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WITH  68  COXiOItEID   E2STGKS,.A. VINO'S 


Mht  gmt  ©«*  with  ®Mm  §mU. 


There  was  once  a  princess  who  had  such  a  beau- 
tiful head  of  hair,  streaming  down  in  curls  to  her 
feet,  and  brilliant  as  a  sunbeam,  that  she  was  uni- 
versally called  the  Fair  One  with  Golden  Locks.  A 
neighbouring  king,  having  heard  a  great  deal  of 
her  beauty,  fell  in  love  with  her  upon  hearsay,  and 
sent  an  ambassador  with  a  magnificent  suite  to  ask 
her  in  marriage,  bidding  him  be  sure  and  not  fail  to 
bring  the  princess  home  with  him.  The  ambassa- 
dor did  his  best  to  fulfil  the  king's  commands,  and 
made  as  fair  a  speech  as  he  could  to  persuade  the 
lady ;  but  either  she  was  not  in  a  good  temper  that 
day,  or  his  eloquence  failed  to  move  her,  for  she 
answered,  that  she  thanked  the  king,  but  had  no 
mind  to  marry.  So  the  ambassador  returned  home 
with  all  the  presents  he  had  brought,  as  the  prin- 
cess would  not  accept  any  thing  of  a  suitor  whom  she 
refused,  much  to  the  grief  of  the  king,  who  had  made 
r*~the  most  splendid  preparations  to  receive  her,  never 

doubting  but  what  she  would  come. 
"?       Now,  there  happened  to  be  at  court  a  very  hand- 
^  some  young  man,  named  Avenant,  who  observed,  that 


THE  FAIR  ONE  WITH  GOLDEN  LOCKS. 


had  he  been  sent  to  the  Fair  One  with  Golden  Locks, 
he  would  certainly  have  persuaded  her  to  come; 
whereupon  eome  ill-natured  persons,  who  were  jeal- 


ous of  the  favour  he  enjoyed,  repeated  his  words  to 
the  king,  as  though  he  had  meant  to  boast  that,  being 
handsomer  than  his  majesty,  the  princess  would  cer- 
tainly have  followed  him.    This  threw  the  king  into 


THE  FAIR  ONE  WITH  GOLDEN  LOCKS. 

such  ar  rage,  that  he  ordered  poor  Avenant  to  be 
thrown  into  a  dungeon,  where  he  had  nothing  but 
straw  to  lie  upon,  and  where  he  would  have  died  of 
exhaustion  had  it  not  been  for  a  little  spring  that 
welled  forth  at  the  foot  of  the  tower  in  which  he 
was  confined.  One  day,  when  he  felt  as  if  he  were 
near  his  end,  he  could  not  help  exclaiming,  "What 
have  I  done?  and  what  can  have  hardened  the 
king's  heart  against  the  most  faithful  of  all  his  sub- 
jects?" It  chanced  that  the  king  passed  by  just  as 
he  uttered  these  words,  and,  being  melted  by  his 
former  favourite's  grief,  he  ordered  the  prison-door 
to  be  opened,  and  bid  him  come  forth.  Avenant 
fell  at  his  feet,  entreating  to  know  the  cause  of  his 
disgrace.  "  Did  you  not  make  game  both  of  myself 
and  .my  ambassador?"  said  the  king;  "and  did  you 
not  boast  that  had  I  sent  you  to  the  Fair  One  with 
Golden  Locks,  you  would  have  prevailed  on  her  to 
return  with  you?"  "True,  sire,"  replied  Avenant; 
"for  I  should  have  set  forth  all  your  great  qualities 
so  irresistibly,  that  I  am  certain  she  could  not  have 
said  nay.  Metliinks  there  is  no  treason  in  that." 
The  king  was  so  convinced  of  his  innocence,  that 
he  straightway  released  Avenant  from  prison  and 

1*  5 


THE  FAIR  ONE  WITH  GOLDEN  LOCKS. 

brought  him  back  to  the  palace.  After  having  given 
him  a  good  supper,  the  king  took  him  into  his  cabi- 
net, and  confessed  to  him  that  he  was  still  so  in  love 
With  the  Fair  One  with  Golden  Locks,  that  he  had  a 
great  mind  to  send  him  to  obtain  her  hand,  and  meant 
to  prepare  a  splendid  equipage  befitting  the  ambas- 
sador of  a  great  nation.  But  Avenant  said,  "That 
is  not  necessary.  Only  give  me  a  good  horse,  and  the 
necessary  credentials,  and  I  will  set  off  to-morrow." 
On  the  following  morning  Avenant  left  the  court, 
and  set  out  alone  on  his  journey,  thinking  as  he  went 
of  all  the  fine  things  he  should  say  to  the  princess, 
and  stopping  ever  and  anon,  when  any  pretty  con- 
ceit came  into  his  head,  to  jot  it  down  on  his  tablets. 
One  day  as  he  halted  for  this  purpose  in  a  lovely 
meadow  by  the  side  of  a  rivulet,  he  perceived  a  large 
golden  carp,  that  lay  gasping  upon  the  grass,  having 
jumped  so  high  to  snap  at  the  flies  that  she  had 
overreached  herself,  and  was  unable  to  get  back  into 
the  water.  Avenant  took  pity  on  her,  and,  gently 
lifting  her  up,  restored  her  to  her  native  element. 
The  carp  took  a  plunge  to  refresh  herself,  then,  re- 
appearing on  the  surface,  she  said,  "Thanks,  Ave- 
nant, for  saving  my  life.    I  will  do  you  a  good  turn  if 

6 


THE  FAIR  ONE  WITH  GOLDEN  LOCKS. 

ever  I  can."  So  saying,  she  dived  back  into  the  water, 
leaving  Avenant  greatly  surprised  at  her  civility. 
Another  time,  he  saw  a  crow  closely  pursued  by  a 


large  eagle,  when,  thinking  it  would  be  a  shame  not 
to  defend  the  weak  against  the  strong,  he  let  fly  an 
arrow  that  brought  the  cruel  bird  of  prey  to  the 


THE  FAIR  ONE  WITH  GOLDEN  LOCKS. 

ground,  while  the  crow  perched  upon  a  tree  in  great 
delight,  crying,  "  It  was  very  generous  of  you,  Ave- 
nant,  to  help  a  poor  crow  like  me.  But  I  will  prove 
grateful,  and  do  you  a  good  turn  whenever  I  can." 

Avenant  was  pleased  with  the  crow's  good  feelings, 
and  continued  his  journey ;  when,  some  days  after,  as 
he  crossed  a  thick  wood,  he  heard  an  owl  hooting, 
as  if  in  great  distress.  After  looking  about  hkn  on 
all  sides,  Avenant  found  the  poor  owl  had  got  en- 
tangled in  a  net.  He  soon  cut  the  meshes,  and  set 
him  free.  The  owl  soared  aloft,  then,  wdieeling  back, 
cried,  "  Avenant,  I  was  caught,  and  should  have 
been  killed  without  your  help.  But  I  am  grateful, 
and  will  do  you  a  good  turn  when  I  can." 

Such  were  the  principal  adventures  that  befell 
Avenant  on  his  journey.  When,  at  last,  he  reached 
the  capital  where  resided  the  Fair  One  with  Golden 
Locks,  it  appeared  so  magnificent  that  he  thought 
he  should  be  lucky  indeed  if  he  could  persuade  her 
to  leave  such  wonders  to  come  and  marry  the 
king  his  master.  He,  however,  determined  to  dg 
his  best :  so,  having  put  on  a  brocaded  dress,  with 
a  richly-embroidered  scarf,  and  hung  round  his 
neck  a  small  basket,  containing  a  beautiful  little  dog 


THE   FAIR   ONE   WITH   GOLDEN   LOCKS. 

lie  had  bought  on  the  road,  he  asked  for  admittance 
at  the  palace-gate  with  such  graceful  dignity  that 
the  guards  all  bowed  respectfully,  and  the  attend- 
ants ran  to  announce  the  arrival  of  another  ambas- 
sador, named  Avenant,  from  the  king  her  neighbour. 

The  princess  bid  her  women  fetch  the  blue  bro- 
caded satin  gown,  and  dress  her  hair  with  fresh 
wreaths  of  flowers;  and  when  her  toilet  was  com- 
pleted, she  entered  her  audience-chamber,  where 
Avenant  was  waiting  for  her.  Though  dazzled  at 
the  sight  of  her  rare  beauty,  he  nevertheless  de- 
livered an  eloquent  harangue,  which  he  wound  up 
by  entreating  the  princess  not  to  give  him  the  pain 
of  returning  without  her.  "  Gentle  Avenant,"  re- 
plied she,  "your  speech  is  fair;  but  you  must  know 
that  a  month  ago  I  let  fall  into  the  river  a  ring  that 
I  value  above  my  kingdom,  and  I  made  a  vow,  at 
the  time,  that  I  would  never  listen  to  a  marriage- 
proposal  from  anybody,  unless  his  ambassador  re- 
covered my  lost  treasure.  So,  you  see,  were  you  to 
talk  till  doomsday,  you  could  not  shake  my  deter- 
mination." 

Avenant  went  to  bed  supperless  that  night;  nor 
could  he  close  his  eyes  for  a  long  while,  but  kept 


THE  FAIR  ONE  WITH  GOLDEN  LOCKS. 

lamenting  that  the  princess  req  uired  impossible  things 
to  put  him  off  the  suit  he  had  undertaken.  But  his 
little  dog  Cabriole  bid  him  be  of  good  cheer,  as  for- 


tune would  no  doubt  favour  him;  and,  though  Ave- 
nant  did  not  much  rely  on  his  good  luck,  he  at  length 
fell  asleep  from  sheer  exhaustion. 

The  next  morning  Cabriole  woke  up  his  master, 


10 


THE  FAIR  ONE  WITH  GOLDEN  LOCKS. 

who  dressed  himself  and  went  to  take  a  walk.  His 
feet  insensibly  carried  him  to  the  river-side,  when  he 
heard  a  voice  calling  out,  "  Avenant !  Avenant !"  He 
looked  about  him,  but,  seeing  no  one,  was  proceeding 
on  his  way,  when  Cabriole,  who  was  looking  at  the 
water,  cried,  "Why,  master,  as  I'm  alive,  it  is  a 
golden  carp  that  is  hailing  you."  Upon  which  the 
Carp  approached,  saying,  "  You  saved  my  life  in  the 
meadow,  and  I  promised  to  be  grateful.  So  here  is 
the  ring  you  are  seeking  for,  gentle  Avenant." 

He  then  hastened  to  the  palace,  and,  requesting  an 
audience  of  the  princess,  he  presented  her  the  ring, 
and  asked  whether  she  had  any  obj  ection  now  to  marry 
his  master.  On  seeing  her  ring  she  was  greatly 
amazed;  but,  being  intent  on  putting  him  off  once 
more,  she  replied,  "Since  you  are  so  ready  to  fulfil 
my  behests,  most  gracious  Avenant,  I  pray  you  do 
me  another  service,  without  which  I  cannot  marry. 
There  lives  not  far  from  here  a  giant  named  Gali- 
fron,  who  has  threatened  to  ravage  my  kingdom 
unless  I  grant  him  my  hand.  He  is  daily  killing 
and  eating  my  subjects;  and  if  you  want  to  win  my 
good  graces  on  your  master's  behalf,  you  must  bring 
me  the  giant's  head." 

11 


THE  FAIR  ONE  WITH  GOLDEN  LOCKS. 

Avenant  was  taken  somewhat  aback  at  this  pro- 
posal; yet,  after  a  few  moments'  reflection,  he  said, 
"Well,  madam,  I  am  ready  to  fight  Galifron ;  and, 
though  I  may  not  conquer,  I  can,  at  least,  die  the 
death  of  a  hero."  The  princess,  who  had  never  ex- 
pected Avenant  would  consent,  now  sought  to  dis- 
suade him  from  so  rash  an  attempt ;  but  all  she  could 
say  proved  vain ;  and,  having  equipped  himself  for 
the  fight,  he  mounted  his  horse  and  departed. 
„  As  he  approached  Galifron's  castle,  he  found  the 
road  .strewed  with  the  bones  and  carcasses  of  those 
whom  he  had  devoured  or  torn  to  pieces;  and  pre- 
sently the  giant  emerged  from  the  wood,  when,  seeing 
Avenant  with  his  sword  drawn,  he  ran  at  him  with 
his  iron  club,  and  would  have  killed  him  on  the  spot, 
had  not  a  crow  come  and  pecked  at  his  eyes,  and 
made  the  blood  stream  down  his  face ;  so  that,  while 
he  aimed  his  blows  at  random,  Avenant  plunged  his 
sword  up  to  the  hilt  into  his  heart.  Avenant  then 
cut  off  his  head,  and  the  crow  perched  on  a  tree, 
saying,  "I  have  not  forgotten  how  you  saved  my 
life  by  killing  the  eagle.  I  promised  to  do  you  a 
good  turn,  and  I  have  kept  my  word."  "  In  truth, 
I  am  greatly  beholden  to  you,  master  crow,"  quoth 

12 


THE  FAIE  ONE  WITH  GOLDEN  LOCKS. 

Avenant,  as  he  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  off  with 
Galifron's  head. 

When  he  reached  the  city,  the  inhabitants  gathered 
round  him,  and  accompanied  him  with  loud  cheers 


to  the  palace.  The  princess,  who  had  trembled  for 
his  safety,  was  delighted  to  see  him  return.  "Now, 
madam,"  said  Avenant,  "  I  think  you  have  no 
excuse  left  for  not  marrying  my  liege  lord."  "Yes, 
indeed  I  have,"  answered  she ;  "  and  I  shall  still 
refuse  him  unless  you  procure  me  some  water  from 

13 


THE  FAIR  ONE  WITH  GOLDEN  LOCKS. 

the  fountain  of  bea*uty.  This  water  lies  in  a  grotto 
guarded  by  two  dragons.  Inside  the  grotto  is  a  large 
hole,  full  of  toads  and  serpents,  by  which  you  de- 
scend to  a  small  cellar  containing  the  spring.  Who- 
ever washes  her  face  with  this  water  retains  her 
beauty,  if  already  beautiful,  or  becomes  beautiful, 
though  ever  so  ugly.  It  makes  the  young  remain 
young,  and  the  old  become  young  again.  So  you 
see,  Avenant,  I  cannot  leave  my  kingdom  without 
carrying  some  of  this  water  away  with  me."  "Me- 
thinks,  madam,"  observed  Avenant,  "you  are  far  too 
beautiful  to  need  any  such  water  ;  but,  as  you  seek 
the  death  of  your  humble  servant,  I  must  go  and  die." 
Accordingly,  Avenant  set  out  with  his  faithful  little 
dog,  and  at  last  reached  a  high  mountain,  from  the 
top  of  which  he  perceived  a  rock  as  black  as  ink, 
whence  issued  clouds  of  smoke.  Presently,  out  came 
a  green  and  yellow  dragon,  whose  eyes  and  nostrils 
were  pouring  forth  fire,  and  whose  tail  had  at  least  a 
hundred  coils.  Avenant  drew  his  sword,  and,  taking 
out  a  phial  given  him  by  the  Fair  One  with  Golden 
Locks,  said  to  Cabriole,  "  I  shall  never  be  able  to  reach 
the  water :  so,  when  I  am  killed,  fill  this  phial  with 
my  blood,  and  take  it  to  the  princess,  that  she  may 

14 


THE  FAIR  ONE  WITH  GOLDEN  LOCKS. 

see  what  she  has  cost  me,  and  then  go  and  inform 
the  king,  my  master,  of  the  fate  that  has  befallen  me." 
While  he  was  speaking,  a  voice  called  out,  "Avenant! 
Avenant !"  and  he  perceived  an  owl  in  the  hollow  of 
a  tree,  who  said,  "You  freed  me  from  the  bird- 
catcher's  net,  and  I  promised  to  do  you  a  good  turn. 
So  give  me  your  phial,  and  I  will  go  and  fetch  the 
water  of  beauty."  And  away  flew  the  owl,  who, 
knowing  all  the  turnings  and  windings  of  the  grotto, 
soon  returned,  bearing  back  his  prize.  After  thank- 
ing the  owl,  Avenant  went  back  to  the  palace,  where 
he  presented  the  bottle  to  the  princess,  who  agreed 
to  set  out  with  him  for  his  master's  kingdom. 

On  reaching  the  capital,  the  king  came  forth  to 
meet  the  Fair  One  with  Golden  Locks,  and  made  her 
the  most  sumptuous  presents.  They  were  then  mar- 
ried, amid  great  festivities  and  rejoicings;  but  the 
queen,  who  loved  Avenant  in  her  heart,  could  not 
forbear  incessantly  reminding  the  king  that  had  it 
not  been  for  Avenant  she  would  never  have  come. 
So  it  happened  that  some  meddling  bodies  went 
and  told  the  king  that  she  preferred  Avenant  to 
himself,  when  he  became  so  jealous  that  he  ordered 
his  faithful  subject  to  be  thrown  into  prison.    When 

15 


THE  FAIR  ONE  WITH  GOLDEN  LOCKS. 


the  Fair  One  with  Golden  Locks  heard  of  his  dis- 
grace, she  implored  the  king  to  release  him;  but 
the  more  she  entreated,  the  more  obstinately  his 


majesty  refused.  The  king  now  imagined  that  his 
wife  perhaps  did  not  think  him  handsome  enough : 
so  he  had  a  mind  to  try  the  effects  of  washing  his 
face  with  the  water  of  beauty.     Accordingly,  one 


16 


THE  FAIR  ONE  WITH  GOLDEN  LOCHS. 

night  he  took  the  phial  from  off  the  mantel-piece  in 
the  queen's  bedchamber,  and  rubbed  his  face  well 
before  he  went  to  bed.  But,  unfortunately,  a  short 
time  previous  the  phial  had  been  broken  by  one 
of  the  maids,  as  she  was  dusting,  and,  to  avoid  a 
scolding,  she  had  replaced  it  by  a  phial  which  she 
found  in  the  king's  cabinet,  containing  a  wash  simi- 
lar in  appearance,  but  deadly  in  its  effects.  The 
king  went  to  sleep,  and  died.  Cabriole  ran  to  his 
master  to  tell  him  the  news,  when  Avenant  bid  him 
go  and  remind  the  queen  of  the  poor  prisoner.  So 
Cabriole  slipped  in  among  the  crowd  of  courtiers 
who  had  assembled  on  the  king's  death,  and  whis- 
pered to  her  majesty,  "Do  not  forget  poor  Avenant." 
The  queen  then  called  to  mind  all  he  had  suffered  on 
her  account,  and,  hastening  to  the  tower,  she  took  off 
his  chains  with  her  own  white  hands,  and  throwing 
the  royal  mantle  over  his  shoulders,  and  placing  a 
gold  crown  on  his  head,  she  said,  "I  choose  you  for 
my  husband,  Avenant,  and  you  shall  be  king." 
Everybody  was  delighted  at  her  choice,  the  wedding 
was  the  grandest  ever  seen,  and  the  Fair  One  with 
Golden  Locks,  and  her  faithful  Avenant,  lived  hap- 
pily to  a  good  old  age. 


Wht  ^UtU  Jt«!ltM-§(ry. 


Upon  a  small  and  lonely  island  in  the  wide  ocean 
there  once  lived  a  poor  old  fisherman,  who  supported 
his  family  by  his  honest  industry.  As  he  was  a 
very  quiet,  contented  man,  he  lived  on  the  very 
best  terms  with  the  numerous  nixes,  who  often  re- 
sorted to  this  solitary  spot  in  preference  to  the 
more  frequented  lands  on  the  sea-shore.  They 
would  even  occasionally  help  him  at  his  work,  and 
show  him  where  the  best  fishes  were  to  be  found, 
and  sometimes  would  fling  a  rare  one  into  his 
boat  as  he  was  going  home.  They  warned  him, 
too,  of  coming  storms,  and  pointed  out  shoals  and 
quicksands,  and,  in  short,  lightened  his  toils  so  ef- 
fectually that,  in  spite  of  his  advanced  age,  he  per- 
formed his  daily  labours  with  very  little  fatigue. 
In  return  for  all  this  kindness,  the  fisherman,  on 
his  part,  never  intruded  on  their  favourite  haunts;' 
and  when  he  sailed  to  the  nearest  city  to  dispose  of 
the  rich  produce  of  his  day's  fishing,  he  frequently 
is- 


THE   LITTLE   FISHEE-BOY. 

brought  them  back  presents  of  chains,  or  rings,  01 
little  silver  bells,  in  all  of  which  trinkets  the  nixes 
take  great  delight.  As  the  parents  were  on  such  a 
friendly  footing  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  deep, 
the  children  on  both  sides  were  mutually  allowed 
to  grow  intimate  with  each  other;  and  it  was  a 
pretty  sight  to  see  the  fisherman's  little  boys  and 
girls  frolicking  with  the  agile  nixes  along  the  shore, 
or  playing  a  thousand  tricks  with  their  watery  play- 
mates when  they  put  out  to  sea  in  their  skiff.  But 
the  fisherman's  eldest  son,  Haldan,  had  more  espe- 
cially formed  a  closer  friendship  with  one  little  nix, 
who  had  once  saved  him  from  drowning  when  his 
fragile  boat  had  been  upset  by  a  gale  of  wind. 
And  these  two  would  often  leave  their  noisier  com- 
panions, and  retire  into  a  lonely  little  creek,  where 
they  could  play  and  talk  quietly  together,  half  con- 
cealed by  the  sea-weeds,  and  beneath  the  shade  of 
overhanging  rocks.  Haldan  used  to  bring  his  dear 
little  Goldtail  —  as  his  brothers  and  sisters  nick- 
named her,  on  account  of  her  beautiful  golden 
scales — the  pretty  flowers  he  had  gathered  in  the 
meadows  or  on  the  mountain ;  while  Goldtail,  in 
return,  would  present  him  with  a  large  shell  con- 

19 


THE   LITTLE   FISHER-BOY. 


taining  costly  pearls  and  sprigs  of  coral.  Each  was 
so  delighted  with  the  other's  gifts  that  they  would 
adorn  themselves  with  their  mutual  presents,  and 


play  like  two  happy  children.  Sometimes,  how^ 
ever,  they  were  more  thoughtful  and  serious ;  and 
when  Haldan  told  Goldtail  all  about  the  cottage 
where  they  lived,  and  the  little  garden  with  its 


20 


THE   LITTLE   FISHER-BOY. 

trim  flowers,  and  the  games  he  played  with  other 
children,  or  described  the  grand,  large  city,  whither 
his  father  had  often  taken  him,  with  its  many, 
many  inhabitants,  its  majestic  buildings  and  glit- 
tering shops,  the  little  nix  would  sigh  and  grow 
sad,  and  scarcely  be  able  to  repress  a  bitter  tear, 
as  she  exclaimed,  "  Oh,  how  I  wish  I  might  go 
and  live  with  you !  It  must  be  so  fair  to  dwell  on 
the  green,  sunny  earth!" 

And  then  she  looked  down  sorrowfully  on  her 
glittering  tail,  which  all  her  sisters  so  greatly  en- 
vied. Haldan,  too,  would  sigh,  and  embrace  his 
little  playmate,  saying,  "Ay!  if  that  could  but  be, 
how  we  would  love  one  another!" 

Then  Goldtail  would  repeat  .to  him  what  she  had 
heard  from  her  good  old  aunt  Gray  tail,  namely,  that 
she  might  be  changed  to  a  human  shape,  provided 
any  kind-hearted  mortal  would  shed  his  blood  to 
save  her  from  death.  After  that,  her  scales  would 
fall,  and  she  would  become  like  any  other  human 
being ;  only  she  must  never  so  much  as  touch  sea- 
water,  or  she  would  instantly  be  changed  back  again 
to  her  pristine  form.  But  these  conversations  only 
made  the  poor  children  grow  still  sadder, — as  they 


THE   LITTLE   FISHER-BOY. 

saw  no  possibility  of  fulfilling  such  conditions ;  for 
though  Haldan  pricked  his  arm,  and  let  the  blood 
drop  upon  Goldtail,  it  proved  of  no  avail,  and  she 
remained  just  the  same  as  before. 

One  day,  as  they  sat  talking  of  their  favourite 
topic,  and  were  very  much  out  of  heart,  they  sud- 
denly heard  the  rustling  of  a  pair  of  mighty  wings 
above  their  heads,  and,  before  they  could  collect 
their  thoughts,  a  formidable  eagle  had  pounced 
upon  Goldtail,  and  was  about  to  carry  her  off  in 
his  claws,  when  Haldan  suddenly  seized  a  stick 
that  had  been  cast  upon  the  shore  by  chance,  and, 
attacking  the  eagle  with  a  kind  of  desperate  cour- 
age, forced  him  to  relinquish  his  hold.  The  infu- 
riated bird  now  turned  round  upon  the  little  boy, 
and  struck  the  club  out  of  his  hands  with  a  flap 
of  his  strong  wings,  and  tore  his  flesh  with  his 
sharp  beak,  and  seized  him  in' his  claws  to  fly  away 
with  him,  in  spite  of  Goldtail's  cries  for  help.  The 
poor  little  nix  could  only  wring  her  hands  in  help- 
less despair,  as  the  eagle  slowly  soared  upwards 
with  his  prize.  But,  luckily,  Haldan's  arms  had 
remained  free,  and  no  sooner  did  the  smarting  of 

his  wounds   arouse  him  from  his  stupor  than  he 
22 


THE   LITTLE   FISHER-BOY. 

seized  convulsively  upon  the  eagle's  throat,  and 
strangled  him,  before  he  had  flown  very  high,  so 
that  both  fell  ,ctawn  together  into  the  sea. 


When  Haldan  had  recovered  from  the  stunning 
effects  of  his  fall,  he  found  himself  on  the  shore  in 
the  arms  of  Goldtail,  who  was  tenderly  washing 
and  binding  up  his  wounds.     And — oh,  wonder  of 


23 


THE   LITTLE   FISHER-BOY. 

wonders  ! — a  second  glance  at  his  playmate  showed 
him  that  she  had  lost  her  golden  tail,  and  was  now 
like  one  of  his  own  little  sisters.  In  the  fulness 
of  their  joy,  they  fell  upon  each  other's  neck,  as 
though  they  had  met  again  after  a  long  separa- 
tion ;  and  Haldan  forgot  his  wounds,  and  rose  up  to 
take  his  little  friend  home  and  tell  his  family 
what  a  piece  of  good  luck  had  befallen  him.  But, 
first  of  all,  they  fastened  the  eagle's  feet  to  the 
stick,  and  carried  it  on  their  shoulders,  as  they 
gay ly  went  along  to  the  fisherman's  cottage.  They 
had  not  proceeded  far  before  they  were  met  by 
Haldan's  youngest  sister,  who  came  running  to- 
wards them  as  fast  as  she  could,  and  told  them 
how  the  old  nixes,  having  watched  them,  had  com- 
plained violently  to  their  father  about  the  loss  of 
their  child,  and  how  the  latter  had  been  compelled, 
on  their  repeated  demands,  to  promise  to  bind 
Goldtail  and  fling  her  into  the  sea.  The  children 
looked  mournfully  at  each  other,  to  think  that  their 
dream  of  happiness  should  have  vanished  so  soon ; 
and  neither  of  them  knew  what  to  do  or  to  advise. 
At  length  they  both  exclaimed,  in  a  breath,  "  No ! 
we  will  not  part  from  one  another;"  and,  taking 

24 


THE   LITTLE  FISHEK-BOY, 


leave  of  Haldan's  kind  little  sister,  they  turned 
back,  and  went  to  seek  a  safe  retreat  in  a  wild  and 
distant  part  of  the  island,  where  they  hoped  to  es- 
cape from  their  parents'  pursuit. 


After  wandering  for  several  days,  they  reached 
a  thick  forest,  in  which  they  found  a  grotto  that 
seemed  to  offer  a  safe  and  agreeable  abode.  Near 
it  ran  a  babbling  stream,  full  of  fish,  while  berries 
grew  in  countless  thousands  on  the  ground,  and 

3  25 


THE    LITTLE    FISHER-BOY. 

the  flocks  of  wild  pigeons  that  had  built  their  nests 
among  the  rocks  would  furnish  them  plenty  of  eggs 
for  their  nourishment.  Here  the  children  lived 
for  a  long  time  undiscovered,  and  played,  and  were 
as  happy  as  the  day  was  long,  and  used  often  to 
talk  of  future  plans  against  they  should  be  grown 
up.  But  their  happiness  was  not  to  last.  A  fish 
that  happened  to  escape  from  Haldan's  net  swam 
towards  the  sea,  and  betrayed  the  secret  of  their 
retreat,  out  of  revenge,  to  one  of  the  nixes.  She 
immediately  swam  softly  to  the  spot  pointed  out  by 
the  fish,  and  overheard  the  little  hermits,  as  they 
sat  unconsciously  on  the  banks  of  the  stream, 
warming  themselves  in  the  bright  sunshine,  and 
planning  what  they  would  do  on  the  morrow,  and 
where  they  had  better  fish,  and  how  they  should 
lay  in  a  stock  of  provisions  for  the  coming  winter. 
After  listening  to  their  conversation,  the  nix  swam 
back  as  noiselessly  as  she  had  come,  and,  calling 
her  parents  and  brothers  and  sisters  together,  they 
all  agreed  to  carry  off  Haldan  when  he  would  be 
fishing  early  next  morning,  as  they  had  not  the 
power  to  take  their  dear  Goldtail  by  mere  force. 
They,  therefore,  cautiously  followed  up  the  stream 

26 


THE  LITTLE   FISHEK-BOY. 

that  same  night,  in  the  moonshine,  and  the  treach- 
erous nix  posted  the  strongest  of  the  band  in  a 
hiding-place  near  the  spot  where  she  had  heard 
Haldan  would  come  Jo  fish.  Scarcely  had  dawn 
appeared  in  the  horizon,  and  the  birds  awoke  from 
their  slumbers,  when  Haldan  came  along,  singing 
as  he  went,  in  company  with  his  Goldhair, — as  he 
now  called  her;  and,  while  he  took  out  his  fishing- 
tackle  to  set  to  work,  she  turned  into  a  neighbour- 
ing path  to  gather  berries.  But  no  sooner  had  he 
set  his  foot  in  the  water,  in  order  to  throw  his  net 
more  conveniently,  than  the  stalwart  male  nix 
stepped  forth  from  behind  the  stump  of  a  tree, 
where  he  lay  hid,  and,  seizing  hold  of  the  boy, 
whom  he  flung  across  his  shoulder,  hastily  swam 
down  the  stream ;  while  the  other  nixes  followed 
close  upon  him,  so  as  to  hinder  the  little  captive 
from  catching  hold  of  a  branch  to  save  himself. 
His  screams  for  help  quickly  brought  Goldhair  to 
the  bank  of  the  stream,— but,  alas  !  only  to  see  her 
friend's  danger  and  to  feel  how  powerless  she  was 
to  assist  him  !  In  vain  did  she  weep  and  implore, 
in  language  that  would  have  moved  a  stone ;  the 
nixes  remained  inexorable,  and  bore  their  strug- 

27 


THE   LITTLE    FISHER-BOY. 


gling  prey  to  the  ocean.  Breathless  and  half  dis- 
tracted, Goldhair  ran  after  them  till  she  reached 
the  sea-shore,  when  she  started  back  in  alarm,  as  a 
rising  wave  had  nearly  besprinkled  her  foot;  for 


she  recollected  with  horror  that  she  would  again 
become  a  nix  should  she  touch  the  waters  of  the 
sea.  So  she  shuddered,  and  dared  not  advance  a 
step  farther,  just  as  a  piercing  cry  met  her  ears, 
and,  on  looking  round,  she  perceived  her  faithful 

28 


THE    LITTLE   FISHER-BOY. 


Haldan  being  dragged  down  into  the  deep;  when, 
losing  sight  of  every  thing  but  his  safety,  she  reck- 
lessly plunged  into  the  flood.  Scarcely  had  she 
touched  the  water,  when   she  felt  herself  trans- 


formed ;  yet  on  she  went,  .with  the  speed  of  light- 
ning, and,  tearing  Haldan  from  the  arms  of  -these 
cruel  robbers,  she  bore  him  to  their  favourite  spot, 
which  was  close  at  hand.     But  it  was  too  late;  for 

3*  29 


THE   LITTLE    FISHER-BOY. 

before  she  had  laid  her  dear  burden  on  the  sea- 
shore, life  was  already  extinct ! 


To  winds  and  waves  she  tells  her  grief, 
And  asks  them  to  restore  his  breath  ; 

But  winds  nor  waves  can  give  relief, 
Nor  tears  can  soften  ruthless  death. 


She  digs  his  grave  within  the  deep, 
Mid  pearls  and  gems,  in  caverns  dim  ; 

And,  soon  as«he  is  laid  to  sleep, 

She,  dying,  sings  his  funeral  hymn. 


20 


I ml  and  tto  §fjw-^Mk. 


In  the  days  of  King  Alfred  there  lived,  in  a  re- 
mote village  in  England,  a  poor  widow,  whose  son 
was  so  spoiled  by  over-indulgence  that  he  was  the 
idlest  and  most  careless  boy  in  the  whole  parish. 
These  two  faults,  together  with  his  reckless  extrava- 
gance, had  brought  his  mother  to  the  very  brink  of 
ruin ;  so  that  at  length,  when  there  was  not  a  crust 
of  bread -left  in  the  house,  she  told  Jack,  with  tears 
in  her  eyes,  that  her  cow  must  now  be  sold,  to  pre- 
vent their  starving.  Jack  felt  sorry  to  see  his  mother 
so  dejected,  and  promised,  if  she  would  trust  him  to 
drive  the  cow  to  the  next  village,  he  would  sell  her 
to  the  best  advantage.  The  mother,  believing  in 
her  son's  sudden  reform,  allowed  him  to  set  out  with 
the  cow,  upon  whose  back  the  lazy  fellow  rode  astride; 
but  he  had  not  reached  half-way  to  the  village  before 
he  met  a  butcher,  who  was  carrying  some  curious- 
looking  beans  in  his  hat.  While  Jack  was  eyeing 
the  beans,  the  butcher  eyed  the  cow,  and,  feeling 
pretty  sure  of  making  a  good  bargain  with  such  a 

ox 


JACK   AND   THE   BEAN-STALK. 


careless  fellow,  he  inquired  whether  he  would  ex- 
change the  cow  for  the  pretty  beans  in  his  hat. 
#     Jack  was  so  delighted  at-  the  proposal  that  he^ 


agreed  to  it  in  a  moment,  and,  jumping  down,  ran 
back  in  breathless  haste  to  tell  his  mother  what  he 
had  done,  expecting   that  she  would   be  as  much 

E2 


JACK   AND  THE   SEAN-STALK. 

pleased  as  himself.  When  the  poor  widow  heard 
of  this  crowning  piece  of  folly  and  carelessness,  her 
despair  and  exasperation  were  such  that  she  flung 
the  beans  about  in  all  directions,  and  both  mother 
and  son  went  supperless  to  bed. 

Jack  woke  early  next  morning,  when,  perceiving 
his  window  darkened  by  a  foliage  he  had  never  seen 
before,  he  ran  down  into  the  garden,  and  found  that 
the  beans  had  taken  root  during  the  night,  and 
sprung  up  to  such  an  amazing  height  as  to  form  a 
kind  of  natural  ladder,  the  top  of  which  was  lost  in 
the  clouds.  He  immediately  formed  the  determina- 
tion of  climbing  up  it,  and  this,  in  spite  of  all  his 
mother's  'remonstrances,  he  speedily  proceeded  to 
do. 

Jack  climbed  and  climbed  for  several  hours,  and 
was  beginning  to  get  quite  exhausted,  when  at  length 
he  reached  the  top  of  the  bean-stalk,  and  found  him- 
self in  a  strange  land,  where  not  a  tree  or  a  shrub, 
and  still  less  a  house  or  a  living  creature,  were  to  be 
seen.  He  now  bitterly  repented  his  disobedience, 
and  began  to  fear  he  should  die  of  hunger  before  he 
could  get  down  again,  when  he  suddenly  perceived 
a  young  and  beautiful  woman  hovering  over  him, 

33 


JACK   AND   THE   BEAN-STALK. 

While  he  was  wondering  at  this  apparition,  the  fair 
stranger  inquired  how  lie  came  there. 

Jack  told  the  story  of  the  bean-stalk;  and  then 
she  asked  him  whether  he  recollected  his  father,  to 


which  the  little  fellow  replied  that  he  did  not,  and 
that  whenever  he  asked  his  mother  about  him  she 
would  burst  into  tears,  and  he  dared  not,  question 


JACK   AND   THE   BEAN-STALK. 

her  any  further.  The  lady  then  said,  "You  shall 
hear  the  whole  story;  but  first  promise  me  solemnly 
to  do  what  I  command,  for  I  am  a  fairy,  and,  should 
you  fail  to  keep  your  word,  you  will  be  punished  by 
death." 

Jack,  somewhat  alarmed,  promised  to  fulfil  her 
injunctions  faithfully,  when  she  proceeded,  thus: — 

"  Your  father,  as  wealthy  as  he  was  benevolent, 
not  only  made  it  a  rule  never  to  let  a  day  pass  by 
without  doing  good  to  some  one,  but  once  a  week 
kept  open  house,  and  invited  to  his  table  all  those 
who  had  been  reduced  from  better  circumstances  to 
a  state  of  penury.  Of  course,  he  was  known  and 
beloved  for  miles  around,  when  the  fame  of  his  good 
deeds  reached  the  ears  of  a  giant,  who,  being  both 
envious  and  wicked,  determined  to  enrich  himself 
by  effecting  your  father's  ruin.  The  giant  came 
with  his  wife  into  your  father's  neighbourhood,  and, 
pretending  to  have  lost  all  his  property  by  an  earth- 
quake, was  kindly  received  by  your  parents.  One 
day  that  there  blew  a  tremendous  gale  along  the  sea- 
shore, not  far  from  which  stood  your  father's  house, 
the  giant,  on  looking  through  a  telescope,  discovered 
some  ships  in  distress,  when  he  hastened  to  your 

35 


JACK    AND   THE   BEAN-STALK. 

father,  and  entreated  him  to  send  all  the  servants  he 
could  spare  to  assist  the  sufferers,  well  knowing  that 
such  an  appeal  would  be  quickly  responded  to.  Sure 
enough,  all  the  servants  were  despatched  in  a  mo- 
ment, with  the  exception  of  your  nurse  and  the 
porter,  when  the  giant  fell  upon  your  unfortunate 
parent  and  stabbed  him  to  the  heart.  He  next  mur- . 
dered  the  two  servants,  and  was  going  to  sacrifice 
your  mother  and  yourself,  then  an  infant  three 
months  old,  when  the  unhappy  lady,  fell  at  his  feet, 
entreating  him  to  spare  your  life  and  hers, — a  boon 
she  at  last  obtained,  by  taking  a  solemn  oath  never 
to  reveal  your  father's  story  to  you.  She  then  fled 
with  frantic  haste,  while  the  giant,  repenting  of  his 
mercy,  would  have  pursued  her,  had  he  not  been 
anxious  to  gather  up  your  father's  treasures,  set  fire 
to  the  house,  and  escape  with  his  wife  before  the 
return  of  the  servants.  Your  poor  mother  wan- 
dered for  miles,  till  at  last  she  settled  in  the  cottage 
where  you  were  brought  up;  and  it  is  to  make  good 
her  wrongs  that  I  caused  you  to  be  tempted  to  pur- 
chase the  beans,  and  the  bean-stalk  to  shoot  up  so 
wonderfully,  to  give  you  an  opportunity  of  punishing 
the  giant ;  for  unless  you  persist  in  revenging  your 


JACK   AND   THE   BEAN-STALK. 

father's  death,  you  will  never  know  happiness.  Ke- 
member,  you  have  full  liberty  to  seize  on  the  giant's 
possessions,  for  they  are  yours  by  right ;  but  mind 
you  do  not  betray  to  your  mother  that  you  are 
acquainted  with  the  secret  of  your  birth  till  we 
meet  again. .  Now  go, — you  will  soon  reach  your 
enemy's  residence ;  and  bear  in  mind  that  so  long  as 
you  obey  my  orders  my  vigilance  will  guard  you." 

The  fairy  then  vanished,  and  -Jack  pursued  his 
journey  till  sunset,  when  he  reached  a  large  man- 
sion, and,  seeing  a  woman  at  the  door,  Jie  requested 
her  to  give  him  a  crust  of  bread  and  a  night's  lodging. 

"  Alas  !"  said  she,  "  I  dare  not !  For  my  husband 
is  a  mighty  giant,  who  delights  in  eating  human 
flesh,  and  is  now  gone  out  in  search  of  some :  so  you 
would  not  be  safe  for  a  moment  in  our  house." 

Terrified  as  Jack  was,  still  he  begged  the  good 
woman  just  to  take  him  in  for  that  night  only,  and 
hide  him  as  best  she  could, — which,  being  naturally 
compassionate,  she  consented  to  do.  They  then 
^entered  a  fine  large  hall,  magnificently  decorated, 
and  went  through  a  suite  of  rooms  all  equally  splen- 
did, though  desolate-looking  enough,  till  they  reached 
a  long  gallery,  dimly  lighted,  but  where  Jack  could 

4  37 


JACK   AND   THE   BEAN-STALK. 

just  manage  to  see  an  iron  grating  that  ran  along 
one  whole  side,  forming  a  dungeon,  from  whence 
proceeded  the  lamentations  of  the  unhappy  victims 
destined  to  appease  the  giant's  voracious  hunger. 
Jack's  blood  half  curdled  at  the  sound,  and  he  began 
to  doubt  whether  the  good  woman  had  not  caught 
him  in  a  trap.  They  emerged,  however,  into  a 
spacious  kitchen,  where  she  laid  a  plentiful  supper 
before  him :  so  he  forgot  his  fears,  and  was  begin- 
ning to  eat  heartily,  when  a  thundering  rap  at  thu 
door  made  the  very  house  shake.  The  giant's  wife 
had  only  time  to  hide  Jack  in  the  oven,  and  flew  to 
let  her  husband  in. 

"  I  smell  fresh  meat!"  said  he,  on  entering. 

"Oh!"  replied  she,  "it  is  only  the  inmates  of  the 
dungeon."  So  he  walked  in  grumbling,  while  Jack, 
more  dead  than  alive,  lay  trembling  from  head  to 
foot  in  his  hiding-place.  At  length  the  giant  sat 
down  quietly,  while  his  wife  served  up  his  supper; 
and,  on  peeping  through  a  crack  in  the  oven-door, 
Jack  was  amazed  at  the  quantities  he  devoured. 
When  his  meal  was  over,  the  giant  called  for  his 
hen,  which  was  accordingly  brought  and  placed  on 
the  table;  and  every  time  he  said,  "Lay!"  behold, 

38 


JACK   AND   THE   BEAN-STALK. 


the  hen  laid  an  egg  of  solid  gold!  Meanwhile  his 
wife  went  to  bed,  and  the  giant,  after  amusing  him- 
self in  this  manner  for  a  long  while,  grew  drowsy 


by  degrees,  and  at  length  fell  asleep  at  the  table  and 
snored  like  the  roaring  of  a  cannon.  At  daybreak, 
Jack,  seeing  him  still  asleep,  crept  out  of  his  hiding- 

39 


JACK    AND   THE   BEAN-STALK. 

place  and  ran  off  with  the  hen,  and,  finding  his  way 
to  the  bean-stalk,  got  down  much  better  than  he  had 
expected.  His  mother  was  overjoyed  at  seeing  him, 
for  she  had  given  him  up  as  lost;  nor  was  she  less 
surprised  when  Jack  told  her  he  had  brought  home 
something  which  he  hoped  would  make  amends  for 
his  former  follies,  and  produced  the  hen. 

Both  mother  and  son  were  now  rich  and  happy, 
and  lived  for  several  months  most  comfortably,  when 
Jack,  recollecting  the  fairy's  injunctions,  determined 
to  climb  the  bean-stalk  again,  to  which  his  mother 
strongly  objected,  assuring  him  that  the  giant's  wife 
would  know  better  than  to  let  him  in,  and  that  the 
giant  would  certainly  kill  him  for  stealing  his  hen. 
But  Jack  was  so  set  upon  going,  that,  after  secretly 
procuring  a  disguise,  and  staining  his  skin  with 
walnut-juice,  he  went  forth  one  morning,  and,  climb- 
ing the  bean-stalk,  again  made  his  way  to  the  giant's 
house,  which  he  reached  towards  evening,  and  again 
found  the  wife  at  the  door.  Jack  made  up  a  pitiful 
story  to  induce  her  to  take  him  in  for  the  night.  The 
woman  answered  with  the  same  objections  as  before, 
adding  that  she  had  taken  in  an  ungrateful  little 
vagabond,  some  months  back,  who  had  stolen  one 

40 


JACK   AND   THE  BEAN-STALK. 

of  her  husband's  treasures,  ever  since  which  he  was 
fiercer  than  ever,  and  continually  reproaching  her. 
Jack,  however,  teased  and  teased  till  the  good  woman 
led  hirn  into  the  kitchen,  and,  after  giving  him  a 
supper,  hid  him  in  a  lumber-closet  just  as  the  giant 
walked  in,  and,  after  sniffing  about,  exclaimed,  as 
before,  "I  smell  fresh  meat!"  "Oh!"  said  the  wife, 
"it  is  only  the  crows  who  have  left  a  piece  of  raw 
meat  on  the  roof  of  the  house."  So  the  giant  grum- 
bled a  while,.. till  his  mouth  was  stopped  by  a  supper 
fit  for  twenty  aldermen,  which  his  wife  made  haste 
to  serve  up ;  and,  when  he  had  eaten  his  fill,  he 
desired  to  have  his  money-bags  brought.  Jack  now 
peeped  out  of  his  hiding-place,  and  presently  saw 
the  wife  return,  dragging  two  heavy  bags,  one  filled 
with  new  guineas,  and  the  other  with  new  shillings ; 
and,  on  her  complaining  of  the  weight,  the  giant 
grew  so  exasperated  that  he  would  have  struck  her 
had  she  not  hastily  retreated.  After  counting  up 
his  treasure  over  and  over  again,  the  giant  at  length 
dropped  off  to  sleep,  and  snored  as  loud  as  the  rush- 
ing of  the  sea  on  a  stormy  night.  Hereupon  Jack 
put  out  first  one  foot  and  then  another,  and,  ap- 
proaching the  table  on  tip-toe,  seized  the  bags,  and, 

4*  41 


JACK   AND  THE   BEAN-STALK. 

slinging  them  over  his  shoulder,  made  his  way  to 
the  bean-stalk,  and,  though  almost  bending  beneath 
his  burden,  succeeded  in  climbing  down  safely.    But 


how  grieved  was  he,  on  reaching  the  cottage-door, 
to  find  his  mother  so  ill  from  over-anxiety  on  his 
account  as  to  be  almost  dying !    On  seeing  him  safe, 


42 


JACK   AND   THE   BEAN-STALK. 

however,  she  gradually  recovered.  Jack  presented 
her  the  bags,  their  cottage  was  rebuilt  and  well  fur- 
nished, and  they  lived  very  comfortably  for  about 
three  years,  during  which  the  bean-stalk  was  not 
even  mentioned  by  either  of  them. 

But,  at  the  end  of  that  time,  Jack,  who  had  been 
thinking  of  it  and"  looking  at  it  stealthily  for  many 
a  month  past,  felt  so  irresistibly  impelled  to  try  his 
luck  once  more,  that  one  morning  up  he  climbed, 
and,  following  the  same  road  as  on  the  two  former 
occasions,  he  again  found  the  giant's  wife  at  the 
door, — only  this  time  he  had  much  more  trouble  to 
persuade  her  to  let  him  in.  Having  succeeded  at 
last,  he  was  concealed  in  the  copper  by  the  time  the 
giant  returned  with  his  usual  alarming  exclamation 
of  "I  smell  fresh  meat!"  which  Jack  did  not  much 
mind  at  first,  though  he  began  to  quail  when  the 
giant  followed  up  his  assertion  by  ferreting  about  in 
every  corner  of  the  kitchen,  and  even  laying  his  little 
finger  on  the  copper-lid,  which  sounded  like  the  fall 
of  a  heavy  beam.  At  length,  supper  drew  off  the 
giant's  attention,  and,  when  this  was  over,  he  told 
his  wife  to  bring  him  his  harp.  When  the  instru- 
ment was  placed  on  the  table,  the  giant  said,  "  Play !" 


JACK   AND   THE'  BEAN-STALK. 


and  it  immediately  struck  up  the  most  exquisite  music 
imaginable,  to  which  the  giant,  who  was  in  a  good 
humour,  began  to  dance.    Jack  w&s  so  delighted  thaC 


he  longed  more  for  the  harp  than  he  had  done  for  the 
other  treasures ;  and  as  the  giant,  not  having  much 
relish  for  sweet  sounds,  was  quickly  lulled  to  sleep, 

4A 


JACK   AND   THE   BEAN-STALK. 

he  lifted  the  lid,  got  out  of  the  copper,  and  seized  the 
instrument.  But  the  harp,  being  an  enchanted  one, 
called  out,  " Master !  master!"  which  woke  the  giant, 
who  started  up  and  endeavoured  to  pursue  Jack ;  but, 
having  drunk  a  few  tuns  more  than  even  his  strong 
head  could  bear,  he  was  only  able  to  reel  along, 
while  Jack  flew  like  the  wind,  and,  clambering  down 
the  bean-stalk,  called  aloud  for  a  hatchet,  which  was 
brought  to  him  immediately;  and  just  as^he  giant 
reached  the  top  of  the  bean-stalk,  Jack  cut  it  close 
at  the  root,  causing  his  foe  to  pitch  headlong  into 
the  garden, — a  fall  that  killed  him  on  the  spot. 

Jack's  mother  was  well  pleased  when  she  saw  the 
bean-stalk  cut  down;  and  the  fairy,  having  appeared, 
explained  to  her  how  she  had  bid  her  son  undertake 
these  journeys,  and  then,  addressing  Jack  in  turn, 
told  him  to  be  dutiful  in  future  to  his  mother,  and 
to  follow  his  father's  example  by  living  to  do  good. 
She  then  vanished ;  but  Jack  never  forgot  her  advice ; 
and,  begging  his  mother  to  forgive  him  all  his  past 
transgressions,  he  became  a  good  sorij"  and  grew  up 
to  be  a  worthy  man. 

4# 


Wilt  (giant  and  the  $nvt  Eittte  ftnilot 


One  summer's  morning,  as  a  diminutive  tailor  was 
sitting  on  his  table  near  the  window,  and  plying  his 
needle  cheerfully,  there  came  by  a  woman,  crying, 
"Good  jam,  very  cheap!"  The  tailor  liked  the  no- 
tion of  this :  so  he  popped  his  little  head  out  of  win- 
dow, and,  calling  to  the  woman,  he  told  her,  if  she 
would  come  up,  she  would  find  a  customer  for  her 
wares.  The  woman  carried  her  heavy  basket  up 
three  pair  of  stairs  to  the  failor,  when  he  made  her 
unpack  all  the  pots,  and,  after  examining  and  smell- 
ing them  all,  he  said,  "The  jam  seems  good:  so  you 
may  weigh  me  two  ounces  of  it,  my  good  woman: 
indeed,  I  don't  mind  if  you  make  it  a  quarter  of  a 
pound." 

The  woman,  who  had  expected  a  much  larger 
purchase,  served  him  as  he  desired,  but  went  away 
grumbling.  The  tailor  then  went  to  a  cupboard, 
and  cut  a  slice  of  bread,  and  spread  the  jam  upon  it, 
and  laid  it  beside  him,  as  he  thought  he  had  better 
finish  the  doublet  he  was  working  at  before  he  ate 
this  dainty  morsel.  While  he  was  stitching  away 
as  fast  as  he  could,  to  get  at  it  the  sooner,  the  flies 
on  the  wall  were  attracted  by  the  smell  of  the  jam, 

46 


THE   GIANT  AND   THE   BRAVE   LITTLE   TAILOR. 

and  down  they  came  in  flocks  to  partake  of  its 
sweets.  "  Nobody  invited  you,"  said  the  little  tailor, 
as  he  brushed  them  away.  Only,  as  the  unbidden 
guests  did  not  understand  what  he  said,  they  were 
not  to  be  put  off,  but  returned  in  greater  numbers 
than  before,  till  the  tailor  was  so  exasperated  that  he 
snatched  up  a  strip  of  cloth  off  his  board,  and  flapped 
away  till  seven  flies  lay  dead  on  the  spot.  "Am  I 
such  a  desperado  as  all  that  comes  to?"  quoth  he,  as 
he  counted  the  slain  and  admired  his  own  bravery ; 
"  nay,  then,  the  whole  town  shall  hear  of  it."  And 
the  little  tailor  forthwith  cut  himself  out  a  belt,  on 
which  he  worked,  in  large  letters,  the  words,  "  Seven 
at  a  blow."  "The  town,  quotha!"  continued  he: 
"the  whole  world  shall  hear  of  it." 

So  he  put  on  the  belt,  and  sallied  forth  into  the  wide 
world,  as  his  workshop  was  too  narrow  a  stage  for  his 
bravery.  Before  he  went,  he  looked  about  him  to  see 
what  he  could  carry  away  with  him,  but  he  found  no- 
thing better  than  an  old  cheese,  which  he  put  into  his 
pocket.  After  passing  through  the  gates  of  the  town, 
he  perceived  a  bird  that  had  got  entangled  in  a  bush, 
and  this  he  caught  and  put  into  his  pocket,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  cheese ;  after  which  he  pursued  his  way 

47 


THE   GIANT  AND   THE   BRAVE   LITTLE  TAILOR. 

rapidly  enough,  for  he  was  so  light  and  nimble  that 
he  scarcely  felt  the  least  fatigue.  The  road  he  fol- 
lowed happened  to  lead  to  a  mountain,  and,  on  reach- 
ing its  highest  summit,  he  found  a  powerful  giant 
sitting  looking  about  him  at  the  landscape  around. 
The  little  tailor  made  up  to  him  very  boldly,  saying, 
"  Good-morning,  comrade ;  and  so  you  are  looking 
at  the  wide  world,  are  you  ?  I  am  just  going  into 
it.     Now,  what  say  you  tp  accompanying  me  ?" 

The  giant  looked  at  the  tailor  with  the  utmost 
contempt,  and  muttered,  "You  miserable  wretch!" 
"  Miserable  wretch,  indeed !"  rejoined  the  little  tailor, 
unbuttoning  his  coat  and  pointing  to  his  belt :  "only 
read  and  see  what  sort  of  a  man  I  am."  The  giant 
read,  "  Seven  at  a  blow,"  and,  concluding  it  meant 
seven  men  the  tailor  had  killed,  began  to  entertain  a 
greater  degree  of  respect  for  the  little  fellow ;  but 
being,  nevertheless,  desirous  of  putting  him  to  the 
proof,  he  picked  up  a  stone,  and  squeezed  it  till  the 
water  dropped  out  af  it.  "Now  do  the  same,"  said 
the  giant,  "if  you  have  strength  enough."  "Is  that 
all?"  cried  the  little  tailor:  "that's  a  mere  joke  for 
me."  And,  putting  his  hand  into  his  pocket,  he  drew 
out  the  cheese;  and  squeezed  it  till  the  whey  oozed  out. 

48 


THE   GIANT   AND   THE   BRAVE    LITTLE   TAILOR. 

"  This  is  better  still,  I  trow,"  observed  he.  The  giant 
did  not  well  know  what  to  think  or  to  say :  so  he 
picked  up  another  stone,  and  threw  it  upwards  to  such 
a  height  that  no  eye  could  follow  it.    "  There !"  cried 


he,  "do  as  much  if  you  can,  my  little  fellow."  "It's 
a  good  throw,"  returned  the  tailor,  "but  the  stone 
must  needs  fall  down  again.  Now,  I'll  throw  some- 
thing that  sha'n't  come  back."  And,  drawing  forth 
the  bird  from  his  pocket,  he  cast  it  into  the  air.   De- 


49 


THE   GIANT   AND   THE   BRAVE    LITTLE    TAILOR. 

lighted  at  regaining  its  liberty,  the  bird,  of  course, 
never  returned.  "  What  say  you  to  that  ?"  asked  the 
tailor.  "It's  a  good  throw,"  replied  the  giant;  "but 
now  let's  see  whether  you  are  able  to  carry  a  tole- 
rable weight."  He  then  led  the  little  tailor  to  a  spot 
where  lay  a  felled  oak  of  considerable  size,  and.  bid 
him  help  him  to  carry  it  out  of  the  forest,  provided 
he  had  sufficient  strength  to  do  so.  "Willingly," 
said  the  little  man;  "and  if  you  do  but  place  the 
trunk  on  your  shoulder,  I  will  lift  up  the  branches, 
which  are  the  heavier  of  the  two."  The  giant  ac- 
cordingly shouldered  the  trunk  of  the  tree,  while  the 
tailor  sat  down  snugly  on  one  of  the  branches,  and, 
as  his  huge  companion  could  not  very  well  look  round, 
he  was  tricked  into  carrying,  not  only  the  whole  tree, 
but  little  Snip  into  the  bargain.  After  they  had  gone 
a  few  steps,  the  giant  could  bear  the  weight  no  longer, 
and  let  fall  the  tree,  while  the  tailor  jumped  nimbly 
down  and  pretended  to  be  holding  the  branches,  and 
laughed  at  the  giant  for  being  unable  to  carry  a 
tree,  though  he  was  such  a  big  fellow. 

On  going  farther,  they  came  to  a  cherry-tree,  when 
the  giant  bent  down  the  top,  and,  placing  it  in  the 
tailor's  hands,  bid  him  eat  of  the  fruit.     Now,  the 


THE  GIANT  AND   THE   BRAVE   LITTLE  TAILOR. 

tailor  was  much  too  weak  to  hold  the  branches,  and, 
when  the  giant  let  them  go,  they  whisked  the  tailor 
up  into  the  air  as  they  rebounded.  "So,"  cried  the 
giant,  "  it  seems  you  have  not  strength  to  hold  even 
such  a  switch  as  that?"  "Oh,"  returned  the  tailor, 
"it  is  not  the  strength  that  fails  me;  but  there  is  a 
sportsman  shooting  in  yonder  bush,  and  I  had  a 
mind  to  get  out  of  his  way.  Jump  after  me  if  you 
can."  The  giant  tried,  but  he  could  not  manage  to 
clear^  the  tree,  and  remained  hanging  midway  on 
one  of  the  branches;  so  that  the  little  tailor  had 
the  upper  hand  even  this  time. 

"  Since  you  are  such  a  brave  fellow,"  said  the  giant, 
"come  and  spend  the  night  in  our  cavern."  The 
little  tailor  made  no  bones  to  follow  him,  and  they 
reached  the  cavern,  where  they  found  several  other 
giants  sitting  by  the  fire,  each  eating  a  whole  roast 
lamb  for  his  supper.  The  giant  then  pointed  to  a 
bed,  and  told  the  tailor  he  might  turn  in  and  sleep 
there  to  his  heart's  content.  But  the  bed  was  so  large 
that  the  little  man  preferred  creeping  into  a  corner 
of  the  cavern.  Towards  midnight,  when  the  giant 
thought  he  must  be  fast  asleep,  he  took  an  iron  club 
and  shivered  the  bed  at  a  single  blowr  making  sure 

51 


THE  GIANT  AND   THE   BRAVE   LITTLE   TAILOE. 


the  little  grasshopper  that  lay  in  it  must  be  as  dead 
as  a  door-nail.  The  next  morning,  when  the  giants 
sallied  forth  into  the  forest,  and  had  forgotten  all 


about  the  little  tailor,  behold!  he  came  up  with 
them,  looking  as  spruce  and  as  bold  as  ever.  The 
giants  were  frightened,  and  took  to  their  heels  as 
fast  as  they  could. 


52 


THE  GIANT  AND  THE /BRAVE  LITTLE  TAILOR. 

As  to  our  little  Snip,  he  kept  following  his  nose, 
and,  after  wandering  a  considerable  way,  he  reached 
the  courtyard  of  a  royal  palace,  when,  feeling  tired, 
he  stretched  himself  on  the  grass,  and  fell  asleep. 
Some  persons  who  happened  to  see  him,  and  read 
"  Seven  at  a  blow"  on  his  belt,  immediately  concluded 
he  was  a  mighty  warrior,  and  they  hastened  to  inform 
the  king  of  his  arrival,  observing,  tha%  it  would  be 
well  to  secure  the  services  of  such  a  man,  in  case  war 
were  to  break  out  again.  The  king  thought  this  ad- 
vice was  wise  enough,  and  therefore  sent  one  of  his 
courtiers  to  be  ready  to  offer  the  stranger  to  enter  the 
army,  as  soon  as  he  should  awake.  The  courtier  hav- 
ing delivered  his  message,  the  tailor  said,  "I  came 
with  the  express  intention  of  offering  my  services  to 
his  majesty."  And  he  Was  accordingly  received  with 
all  due  honours,  and  placed  in  a  residence  by  himself. 

But  the  soldiers  took  umbrage  at  the  little  tailor's 
promotion,  and  wished  him  a  thousand  miles  away, 
"For,"  said  they,  "suppose  we  should  quarrel  with 
him,  he  will  kill  seven  of  us  at  a  blow,  which  is  not 
to  be  borne."  So  they  went  to  the  king,  and  begged 
to  be  dismissed.  Now,  the  king  could  not  bear  the 
idea  of  losing  all  his  faithful  adherents;  yet  he  did 

5*  53 


THE  GIANT   AND   THE   BRAVE   LITTLE   TAILOR. 

hot  dare  to  send  away  the  new-comer,  lest  he  should 
kill  both  himself  and  his  people,  and  take  possession 
of  the  throne.  So,  after  a  good  deal  of  reflection,  he 
sent  to  the  little  tailor,  to  say  that,  as  he  was  such  a 
hero,  he  proposed  to  him  to  rid  the  land  of  a  couple 
of  giants  who  lived  in  a  neighbouring  forest,  pro- 
mising that,  if  he  succeeded,  he  would  give  him  his 
only  daughter  in  marriage,  and  half  his  kingdom. 
He  added  that  a  hundred  horse-soldiers  should  lend 
him  their  assistance.  The  little  tailor  thought  it 
would  be  a  fine  thing  to  marry  a  beautiful  princess : 
so  he  sent  back  word  that  he  would  soon  tame  the 
giants,  and  that  he  wanted  no  help,  for  he  who  could 
hit  seven  at  a  blow  was  not  to  be  cowed  by  two. 

The  little  tailor  then  sallied  forth,  followed  by  a 
hundred  horse-soldiers ;  but,  on  reaching  the  forest, 
he  told  them  to  wait  till  he  returned,  as  he  meant  to 
settle  the  giants'  business  alone.  He  then  entered 
the  thicket,  and  soon  found  the  two  giants  snoring, 
under  a  tree.  The  little  tailor  lost  no  time  in  filling 
his  pockets  with  stones,  and  then  climbed  up  the  tree, 
and,  ensconcing  himself  in  its  branches,  let  fall  seve- 
ral stones,  one  after  another,  right  on  the  breast  of 
one  of  the  giants,  who  at  length  awoke,  and,  nudging 

54 


THE  GIANT  AND   THE  BKAVEL   ITTLE  TAILOR. 


his  companion,  inquired  why  he  beat  him.  "  You 
are  dreaming,"  said  the  other :  "I  didn't  touch  you." 
They  then  went  to  sleep  again,  when  the  tailor  threw 
down  a  stone  that  hit  the  other  giant.  "  What  are 
you  flinging  stones  at  me  for  ?"  said  the  latter.   "  Nay, 


man,  you  are  dreaming,"  said  the  other.  But,  after 
quarrelling  awhile,  as  they  were  both  tired,  they  were 
presently  asleep  again.  The  tailor  then  chose  a  very 
thick  stone,  and  hurled  it  with  all  his  might  at  the 
first  giant.    "This  is  too  bad!"  cried  he,  rising  in  a 

65 


'     THE   GIANT  AND  THE   BRAVE   LITTLE  TAILOR. 

fury  and  assailing  his  companion.  The  latter  paid 
him  in  the  same  coin;  and  such  was  their  mutual 
rage  that  they  tore  up  whole  trees,  and  never  ceased 
belabouring  each  other  till  they  both  lay  dead  on 
the  ground.  The  tailor  now  came  down,  and,  draw- 
ing his  sword,  plunged  it  alternately  into  the  breast 
of  each  of  the  slain  giants,  and  then  returned  to 
the  horse-soldiers,  and  told  them  he  had  overcome 
the  giants.  The  soldiers  however,  would  not  be- 
lieve him,  till  they  had  ridden  into  the  forest,  and 
seen  the  uprooted  trees  and  the  giants  swimming  in 
their  blood. 

The  king,  after  he  had  got  rid  of  his  enemies, 
was  not  much  pleased  at  the  thought  of  giving  up 
half  his  kingdom  to  the  stranger :  so  he  said,  "  You 
have  not  yet  done.  In  the  palace-court  lies  a  bear, 
with  whom  you  must  pass  the  night,  and  if,  when  I 
rise  in  the  morning,  I  find  you  still  living,  you  shall 
have  your  reward."     "Very  well,"  said  the  tailor. 

So,  when  evening  came,  our  little  tailor  was  led 
out  and  shut  up  in  the  court  with  the  bear,  who 
rose  at  once  to  give  him  a  friendly  welcome  with  his 
paw.  " Softly,  softly,  my  friend,"  said  he :  "I  know 
a  way  to  please  you."     Then,  pulling  out  of  his 

56 


HE   GIANT  AND   THE   BRAVE   LITTLE   TAILOR. 

pocket  some  fine  walnuts,  lie  cracked  them,  and  ate 
the  kernels.  When  the  bear  saw  this,  he  longed  for 
some  too:  so  the  tailor  felt  in  his  pocket  and  gave 
him  a  handful,  not  of  walnuts,  but  nice  round 
pebbles.     The  bear  snapped  them  up,  but  could  not 


crack  one  of  them,  do  what  he  would.  Then  said 
he  to  the  tailor,  "  Friend,  pray  crack  me  the  nuts." 
So  the  tailor  took  the  stones,  and  slyly  changed 
them  for  nuts,  put  them  into  his  mouth,  and  crack ! 
they  went.  "Oh!"  said  the  bear,  "now  I  see  how 
you  go  to  work,  I  am  sure  I  can  do  it  myself." 

57 


THE  GIANT  AND   THE   BRAVE   LITTLE   TAILOR. 

Then  the  tailor  gave  him  the  pebbles  again,  and 
the  bear  worked  away  as  hard  as  he  could,  till  he 
broke  all  his  teeth,  and  lay  down  quite  exhausted. 

But  the  tailor  began  to  think  this  would  not  last 
long:  so  he  pulled  a  fiddle  out  from  under  his  coat, 
and  played  him  a  tune.  As  soon  as  the  bear  heard 
it,  he  could  not  help  jumping  up  and  beginning  to 
dance;  and  when  he  had  jigged  away  for  a  while,  he 
said,  "Hark  ye,  friend!  is  the  fiddle  hard  to  play 
upon?"  "No!  not  at  all!"  said  the  other.  "Will 
you  teach  me  to  fiddle,"  said  the  bear,  "  so  that  I  may 
have  music  whenever  I  want  to  dance?"  "With  all 
my  heart ;  but  let  me  look  at  your  claws :  they  are  so 
very  long  that  I  must  first  clip  your  nails  a  little 
bit."  Then  the  bear  lifted  up  his  paws  one  after 
another,  and  the  tailor  tied  them  down  tight,  and 
said,  "Now,  wait  till  I  come  with  my  scissors."  So 
he  left  the  bear  to  growl  as  loud  as  he  liked,  and 
laid  himself  down  on  a  heap  of  straw  in  the  corner, 
and  slept  soundly.  In  the  morning,  when  the  king 
came,  he  found  the  tailor  sitting  comfortably  at 
breakfast,  and  could  no  longer  help  keeping  his 
word,  but  was  obliged,  willy-nilly,  to  give  him  his 
daughter  and  half  his  kingdom.     So  the  wedding 

58 


THE   GIANT  AND   THE   BRAVE   LITTLE   TAILOR. 


was  celebrated  with  much  pomp,  though  with  little 
joy,  and  the  tailor  became  a  king. 

Some  time  after,  the  young  queen  heard  her  hus- 


band talk  in  his  sleep,  and  say,  "Now,  make  haste, 

and  sew  that  waistcoat,  and  mend  that  coat,  or 

1  lay  the  yard-measure  about  your   shoulders." 

e  then  guessed  at  the  low  origin  of  her  spouse, 


bo^, 


59 


THE  GIANT  AND  THE  BRAVE  LITTLE  TAILOR. 

and  the  next  day  she  went  and  begged  her  father  to 
get  her  rid  of  a  husband  who  was  nothing  better 
than  a  tailor.  The  king  bid  her  be  of  good  cheer, 
and  promised,  if  she  left  her  chamber-door  open  on 
the  following  night,  he  would  send  his  servants  to 
bind  him  in  his  sleep,  and  take  him  on  board  a  ship, 
which  should  carry  him  away  forever.  But  it  hap- 
pened their  conversation  was  overheard  by  one  of 
the  king's  squires,  who  liked  the  young  stranger, 
and  went  and  told  him  of  the  danger  that  threatened 
him.  So,  when  the  tailor  had  gone  to  bed,  he  pre- 
tended to  fall  asleep,  and,  as  soon  as  his  wife  had 
opened  the  door,  he  spoke  as  if  he  were  talking  in 
his  sleep,  and  said,  "Make  haste,  boy,  and  sew  that 
waistcoat,  and  mend  that  coat,  or  I'll  lay  the  yard- 
measure  about  your  shoulders.  I  have  hit  seven  at 
a  stroke,  killed  two  giants,  and  tamed  a  bear :  so  I 
need  not  fear  those  who  stand  without."  On  hear- 
ing this,  the  folk  outside  were  so  frightened  that 
they  ran  away  like  chaff  before  the  wind,  and  no 
one  ever  dared  to  lay  a  finger  on  him.  So  a  king 
he  was,  and  a  king  little  Snip  remained  all  the  days 
of  his  life. 

60 


pttt*  p»i». 


There  once  lived  a  woman  who  so  regretted  not 
having  any  children  that  she  at  last  applied  to  an  old 
witch,  telling  her  she  would  be  reduced  to  beg,  bor- 
row, or  even  steal  an  infant,  unless  she  could  assist 
her  to  find  one.  "  There  is  no  need  to  do  that,"  said 
the  witch  :  "  only  take  this  barleycorn,  which  is  of 
quite  a  different  kind  to  what  ploughmen  sow  in  the 
fields,  and  plant  it  in  a  flower-pot,  and  you  will  see 
what  a  rare  blossom  it  will  bring  you." 

The  woman  thanked  her  and  gave  her  twelve 
shillings;  and  the  moment  she  reached  home  she 
planted  the  barleycorn,  that  soon  grew  up  into  a 
beautiful  large  flower,  that  seemed  to  promise  to  be 
something  like  a  tulip,  as  far  as  could  be  judged  from 
the  bud.  The  woman  was  delighted  at  the  sight  of 
it,  but  her  raptures  were  unbounded  when  the  leaves 
unfolded  and  discovered  a  most  exquisite  and  deli- 
cately-formed little  girl,  not  above  an  inch  high,  to 
whom  she  gave  the  name  of  Maia. 

A  neatly-varnished  walnut-shell  made  a  cradle  for 
the  diminutive  creature,  her  mattress  was  of  violets, 

6  61 


LITTLE    MAIA. 


and  a  rose-leaf  served  as  her  counterpane.  During 
the  daytime  she  played  on  the  table,  where  her  fos- 
ter-mother had  placed  a  plate,  encircled  by  a  wreath 
of  flowers,  with  their  stems  in  the  water.  A  large  tulip- 
leaf  served  as  a  boat,  in  which  Maia  rowed  about  on 
this  miniature  lake  with  a  couple  of  oars,  each  con- 
sisting of  a  single  white  horse-hair.  She  would  sing, 
too,  with  a  tiny  voice  of  the  most  delicious  quality. 

One  night,  as  she  lay  in  her  pretty  bed,  a  nasty, 
ugly  wet  toad  jumped  into  the  room  through  a 
broken  pane  in  the  window,  and  alighted  on  the 
table,  while  she  slept  beneath  her  rosy  counterpane. 
"  She  would  make  a  charming  wife  for  my  son," 
thought  the  toad ;  and,  taking  up  the  walnut-shell, 
Maia,  and  all,  she  hopped  back  into  the  garden.  It 
was  here  she  lived,  on  the  bank  of  a  broad  stream, 
together  with  her  son,  who  was  as  frightful  as  her- 
self, and  said  nothing  but  "  Croak !  croak !"  when 
he  saw  the  beautiful  little  creature. 

"Not  so  loud,"  quoth  the  mother  toad,  "or  you 
will  wake  her,  and  she  might  escape  from  us.  We 
will  lay  her  on  the  acanthus-leaves  m  the.  middle 
of  the  stream,  which  will  serve  as  an  island  for  so 
small  and  light  a  being,  and  then  she  will  not  be 


62 


LITTLE   MAIA. 


able  to  run  away  while  we  prepare  the  state  apart- 
ment under  the  swamp." 

Accordingly,  the  old  toad  placed  her  on  the 
broadest  acanthus-leaf  that  spread  its  green  surface 
on  the  water. 


When  the  little  creature  woke  in  the  morning  and 
found  herself  surrounded  by  water,  she  began  to  cry 
bitterly ;  but  her  fright  was  increased  when  the  toad, 
after  decking  her  chamber  with  reeds  and  flowers 
for  the  reception  of  her  intended  daughter-in-law, 
swam  up  to  the  acanthus-leaf  in  company  with  her 
son,  and  presented  him  to  Maia,  saying,  "This  is 
your  future  husband ;  and  you  shall  presently  see 
what  an  elegant  residence  has  been  prepared  for  you 

63 


LITTLE   MAIA. 

in  the  swamp."  "Croak!  croak!"  was  all  the  son 
could  say  in  confirmation  of  his  mother's  assertion. 

They  then  swam  away  with  the  pretty  cradle  to 
place  it  in  the  bride's  future  abode,  while  Maia  re- 
mained alone  on  the  acanthus,  and  wept  at  the  very 
thought  of  marrying  a  hideous  toad.  The  little  fishes, 
who  had  heard  all  that  had  passed,  now  popped  their 
heads  out  of  the  water  to  see  the  tiny  maiden,  and, 
when  they  found  how  pretty  she  was,  they  declared 
it  would  be  a  shame  to  let  her  be  sacrificed  to  a 
loathsome  toad;  and  accordingly  they  all  assembled 
round  the  stem  of  the  leaf  she  sat  upon,  and  nibbled 
and  nibbled  till  they  set  it  free,  and  it  floated  down 
the  stream,  carrying  little  Maia  far  beyond  the  reach 
of  her  uncouth  bridegroom. 

Away  she  sailed  past  a  number  of  cities,  till  she 
was  fairly  out  of  the  land,  and  reached  a  beautiful 
country  where  the  sun  was  shining  like  gold  upon 
the  water.  Here  she  was  seen  by  a  cockchafer,  who 
pounced  down  on  the  fragile  equipage,  and,  encir- 
cling her  in  his  clawsy  bore  her  off  to  a  tree.  Oh, 
how  frightened  was  poor  little  Sfai^!  But  she  sotjm 
saw  the  cockchafer  meant  no  harm,  for  he  placed 
her  on  the  greenest  leaf  that  grew  upon  the  tree, 
M 


LITTLE   MAIA. 

and  gave  her  some  honey  from  its  blossoms  to  eat, 
and  told  her  she  was  a  sweet  little  creature,  though 
so  unlike  a  cockchafer.  Presently,  some  female 
cockchafers,  who  lived  in  the  same  tree,  came  to  see 
her,  but  they  turned  up  their  feelers  very  disdain- 
fully as  they  observed  that  the  pitiful  thing  had 
only  two  legs!  and  they  all,  with  one  voice,  de- 
clared her  to  be  extremely  ugly. 

The  cockchafer,  seeing  that  his  female  friends 
held  her  so  cheap,  finished  by  thinking  that  he  was 
mistaken  about  her  beauty,  and  declared  he  no 
longer  cared  about  her,  and  that  she  might  go  away 
wherever  she  liked.  They  then  flew  down  with  little 
Maia,  and  placed  her  on  a  daisy,  where  she  sat  and 
wept  to  think  that  she  was  so  ugly  that  even  the 
cockchafers  would  not  let  her  remain  among  them. 

Poor  little  Maia  lived  all  alone  in  the  forest  the 
whole  summer  through.  She  made  herself  a  ham- 
mock of  plaited  grass-blades,  which  she  hung  under 
a  burdock-leaf,  to  be  safe  from  showers :  the  honey 
drawn  from  flowers  served  for  her  food,  and  dew- 
drops  for  her  drink;  and  all  this  was  vastly  pleasant 
so  long  as  summer,  or  even  autumn,  lasted.  But 
when  winter  came,  and  the  birds  had  ceased  to  sing, 

6*  65 


LITTLE   MAIA. 


and  the  trees  and  flowers  had  withered,  and  the 
large  burdock-leaf  that  served  for  her  shelter  was 
completely  shrivelled  uj);  leaving  nothing  but  a  bare 
stem,  then  it  was  quite"  a  different  story,  and  poor 
little  Maia  was  nearly  frozen  to  death ;  especially 
when  the  snow  began  to  fall,  for  every  flake  was  to 
her  like  what  a  shovelful  would  be  to  ordinary  hu- 
man beings.  So  she  sallied  forth  from  the  wood  into 


a  corn-field  that  lay  close  by,  where  there  was  no- 
thing but  the  dry,  hard  stubble  left,  which,  propor- 
tionately to  her,  seemed  an  immense  forest.     After 


LITTLE    MAIA. 

wandering  a  long  while,  she  reached  a  narrow  open- 
ing that  led  to  the  dwelling  of  a  field-mouse,  who  had 
burrowed  a  safe  retreat  under  the  stubble,  where  she 
lived  very  snugly,  and  had  a  chamber  full  of  corn, 
and  an  excellent  kitchen  and  dining-room.  Poor 
Maia  just  ventured  into  the  passage,  like  a  beggar, 
and  requested  a  little  bit  of  a  barleycorn,  as  she  had 
not  tasted  food  for  nearly  a  couple  of  days. 

"Why,  you  diminutive  creature!"  cried  the  field- 
mouse,  who  was  a  good-hearted  old  body  in  the  main, 
"  come  into  my  warm  room  and  dine  with  me." 

And  Maia  pleased  her  so  well  that  she  told  her  she 
might  stay  with  her  all  the  winter,  provided  she  would 
keep  the  rooms  clean  and  tidy  and  tell  her  amusing 
stories.  Maia  did  as  the  old  field-mouse  required  of 
her,  and  they  lived  very  comfortably  together. 

"  We  shall  soon  have  a  visit  from  a  neighbour  of 
mine,  who  comes  to  see  me  once  a  week,"  said  the 
field-mouse.  "  He  is  much  better  off  than  I  am,  and 
has  a  fine  large  house,  and  wears  a  beautiful  black 
velvet  tippet.  You  would  be  a  lucky  girl,  indeed, 
if  you  got  him  for  a  husband  !  So,  as  he  can't  see 
at  all,  you  must  mind  and  tell  him  all  your  best 
stories,  to  try  and  please  him." 

67 


LITTLE   MAIA. 

But  Maia  had  no  notion  of  marrying  a  mole ;  and, 
when  he  came  in  his  fine  black  velvet  tippet,  to  visit 
his  neighbour,  she  made  little  account  either  of  his 
boasted  learning  or  of  his  fine  house,  which  the  field- 
mouse  frequently  said  was  at  least  twenty  times 
larger  than  her  own ;  for  he  professed  to  dislike  both 


flowers  and  sunshine,  and  that  simply  because  he 
had  never  seen  them  !  However,  Maia  was  obliged 
to  sing ;  and  her  voice  was  so  sweet  that  the  mole 
fell  at  once  in  love  with  her,  though,  being  a  pru- 


OS 


LITTLE   MAIA* 

dent  character,  he  said  nothing  of  the  kind  till  he 
had  taken  time  for  reflection. 

As  the  mole  had  lately  burrowed  a  long  passage 
leading  from  his  house  to  his  neighbour's,  he  gave 
the  field-mouse  and  Maia  leave  to  walk  there  when- 
ever they  liked,  but  warned  them  not  to  be  afraid  of 
the  dead  bird  that  was  lying  on  the  ground,  and  which 
he  had  found  by  accident  on  turning  up  the  earth  as 
he  hollowed  out  the  passage.  The  mole  then  showed 
them  the  way  through  the  long  dark  winding,  and 
when  they  came  near  the  spot  where  lay  the  bird,  he 
bored  a  hole  through  the  roof  with  his  broad  nose, 
so  as  to  let  in  light,  and  they  perceived  a  dead  swal- 
low, with  its  beautiful  wings  closely  pressed  to  its 
sides  and  its  feet  and  head  drawn  up  under  its  feathers. 
It  was  evident  he  had  been  frozen  to  death.  Maia 
felt  pained  for  the  poor  little  thing,  for  she  was  very 
fond  of  birds ;  but  the  unfeeling  mole  only  pushed 
him  out  of  the  way,  observing,  "  He  will  not  pipe 
any  more.  Thank  God  I  was  not  born  a  bird,  who 
can  say  nothing  but  '  twit !  twit  P  and  is  obliged  to 
die  of  hunger  when  winter  sets  in  !" 

"  That  is  a  sensible  remark  of  yours,  neighbour," 
quoth  dame  field-mouse.     ' 

69 


LITTLE   MAIA. 

But,  when  these  two  worthies  had  turned  their 
backs,  little  Maia  returned  and  kissed  the  bird's 
closed  eyes.  "  For  who  knows,"  said  she,  "but  it 
may  be  one  of  those  who  sang  to  me  so  sweetly 
during  the  summer  ?" 

The  mole  now  stopped  up  the  hole  again,  and  the 
ladies  returned  home.  But  Maia  could  not  sleep  that 
night;  so  she  got  out  of  bed  and  plaited  a  hay  cover- 
let, which  she  took  and  spread  over  the  dead  swallow, 
and  then  laid  some  soft  wool,  which  she  had  found  in 
her  mistress's  chamber,  on  each  side  of  the  bird,  to 
keep  him  warm  as  he  lay  on  the  cold  earth.  When 
she  had  concluded  her  pious  offices,  just  as  she  bent 
down  to  give  the  bird  a  parting  kiss,  she  was  half 
frightened  at  feeling  something  within  his  breast ; 
for  he  was  not  dead,  but  only  benumbed  by  cold,  and 
the  warm  covering  had  brought  him  back  to  life. 
Maia  trembled  with  fear,  because  the  bird  was  so 
large,  compared  to  herself';  yet  she  took  courage, 
and  ran  to  fetch  a  mint-leaf,  which  served  her  for  a 
counterpane,  and  laid  it  over  his  head. 

On  the  following  night  she  went  to  see  him,  but, 
though  alive,  she  found  him  so  weak  that  he  could 
only  thank  her  in  a  faint  voice  and  express  a  wish 

70 


LITTLE   MAIA. 


to  get  back  into  the  sunshine,  to  be  restored  to 
strength.  But  Maia  told  him  that  the  snow  lay  on 
the  ground,  and  that  he  must  remain  for  a  while  in 
his  warm  bed,  and  she  would  take  care  of  him.  She 
then  brought  him  a  draught  of  water  in  a  leaf,  and 
he  told  her  how  his  wing  had  been  torn  by  a  bram- 
ble,i  which  prevented  his  joining  his  fellow-swallows 


in  their  flight,  and  how  he  had  fallen  exhausted  on 
the  ground,  and  been  so  benumbed  by  the  cold  that 
he  knew  not  what  became  of  him  afterwards. 

So  the  swallow  spent  the  winter  under  ground,  and 
was  kindly  waited  on  by  Maia,  unknown  to  either 
the  field-mouse  or  the  mole,  both  of  whom  hated 

71 


LITTLE    MAIA. 

birds ;  and  when  spring  came  again,  she  opened  the 
hole  for  the  bird  to  depart.  As  he  was  about  to  sally 
forth  into  the  sunny  atmosphere,  the  swallow  told 
Maia  that,  if  she  would  come  with  him,  he  could 
easily  carry  her  on  his  back.  '  But  Maia  refused, 
for  she  knew  the  old  field-mouse  would  be  sorry  to 
part  with  her.  "  Then  farewell,  thou  sweet,  kind 
girl!"  cried  the  swallow,  as  he  flew  away;  and  poor 
Maia  watched  him  with  tearful  eyes. 

The  corn  which  had  been  sown  about  the  field- 
mouse's  dwelling  had  now  sprung  up  and  formed 
rows  of  lofty  trees,  according  to  Maia's  estimate,  and 
she  would  fain  have  rambled  beneath  their  shade, 
but  dame  field-mouse  would  not  let  her  go  a-gadding. 
"  You  must  make  your  wedding-outfit  during  the 
summer,"  said  the  thrifty  mouse,  "against  you  be- 
come the  mole's  wife;"  for  that  tiresome  personage 
had  asked  her  in  marriage  of  the  field-mouse.  So 
Maia  was  set  to  spin,  and  four  spiders  were  employed 
day  and  night  to  forward  the  preparations;  and  the 
mole  came  to  court  her  every  evening.  But  Maia 
could  not  abide  the  stupid  creature ;  and  when  she 
stole  up  every  morning  and  evening  to  peep  at  the 
blue  sky  between  the  ears  of  corn,  she  wished  the 


LITTLE   MAIA. 

swallow  back  again,  though  she  had  little  hope  of 
his  ever  returning. 

When  autumn  came,  her  wedding-clothes  were 
all  ready,  and  the  field-mouse  told  her  that  in  an- 
other month  the  marriage  should  take  place;  but 
Maia  wept,  and  said  she  would  not  marry  the  nasty 
mole.  "  Nonsense  I"  cried  the  mouse  ;  "  don't  talk 
such  stuff,  or  I  shall  bite  you.  You  ought  to  be 
thankful  for  such  a  husband." 

Then  Maia  was  very  sad  to  think  she  would  have 
to  live  under  ground,  and  never  see  the  earth's  fair 
face,  even  as  much  as  she  had  done  at  the  field- 
mouse's,  and  she  went  to  take  a  last  leave  of  the  sun. 
The  harvest  was  now  over,  and,  as  she  leant  upon  a 
little  red  flower  that  still  remained,  and  looked 
mournfully  up  at  the  sky,  she  heard  "Twit!  twit!" 
above  her  head,  and  in  another  moment  her  friend 
the  swallow  was  by  her  side.  She  then  related  her 
troubles  to  him,  when  he  told  her  to  mount  upon 
his  back  and  fasten  herself  securely  with  her  girdle, 
and  he  would  bear  her  far  beyond  the  mole's  reach, 
to  a  beautiful  warm  land  where  the  summer  was 
perpetual.  This  time  Maia  willingly  consented,  and 
away  the  swallow  flew  with  her  over  the  woods  and 

7  73 


LITTLE  MAIA. 


the  sea  beyond,  and  across  the  snow-capped  moun- 
tains, till  they  reached  a  lovely  climate,  where 
grapes  and  citrons  were  growing  and  butterflies 
disporting.  But  the  swallow  did  not  stop  here,  but 
flew  to  a  more  distant  and  delicious  country,  where, 


on  the  shores  of  the  blue  ocean,  stood  the  ruins  of 
a  white  marble  palace,  at  the  top  of  whose  vine- 
wreathed  columns  a  number  of  his  fellow-birds  had 
built  their  nests.  "  This  is  my  home,"  said  the 
swallow;  "but  I  will  set  you  down  among  thosa 


74 


LITTLE   MAIA. 

pretty  white  flowers  that  grow  between  the  broken 
fragments  of  yon  fallen  pillar."  So  saying,  he 
placed  her  on  one  of  the  broad  leaves,  when  she  was 
surprised  to  see  a  little  manikin,  as  white  and  trans- 
parent as  glass,  with  wings  on  his  shoulders  and  a 
gold  crown  on  his  head,  standing  in  the  midst  of  the 
flower.  Every  flower  contains  a  male  or  a  female 
spirit  of  the  same  kind,  but  this  was  the  king  of 
them  all.  "  Oh,  how  handsome  he  is  !"  cried  Maia 
to  the  swallow.  And  when  the  prince  had  recovered 
from  his  fright  at  the  giant  bird,  he  was  in  turn  so 
delighted  at  Maia's  beauty  that  he  took  off  his 
crown  and  placed  it  on  her  brow,  and  asked  her  to 
become  his  wife  and  the  queen  over  all  the  flowers. 
This  was  rather  a  different  match  from  the  toad  or 
the  mole !  So  little  Maia  soon  said,  "  Yes,"  and  there 
stepped  forth  from  each  flower  a  little  lady  or  a  mani- 
kin, who  brought  her  presents, — the  best  among 
which  was  a  pair  of  wings  about  the  size  of  those 
of  a  large  fly,  which  they  fastened  to  her  shoulders, 
and  which  enabled  her  to  fly  from  flower  to  flower ; 
and  then  great  rejoicings  were  held,  and  the  swallow 
sang  his  sweetest  songs  to  the  newly- wedded  pair, 
and  brought  back  the  story  of  little  Maia. 

75 


%ht  (B\svm  WiU  Iww 


In  the  land  whither  the  swallows  fly  to  seek  a  home 
in  winter,  there  once  lived  a  king  who  had  eleven  sons, 
and  one  daughter,  named  Elisa.     The  eleven  young 


princes  used  to  go  to  school,  and  write  on  golden  slates 
with  diamond  pencils ;  while  their  sister  Eli  3a  sat  upon 
a  crystal  stool,  and  had  a  book,  full  of  pretty  pictures, 

76 


THE   ELEVEN   WILD   SWANS.        V 

that  was  wortli  half  a  kingdom.  Oh,  what  happy 
children  they  were !  But,  unfortunately,  they  were  not 
destined  to  continue  so  much  longer ;  for  their  father 
married  again,  and  the  new  queen  was  very  unkind  to 
them.  And  this  they  perceived  in  the  very  first  few 
days,  when  the  palace  was  full  of  company,  and  there 
was  plenty  of  feasting ;  for,  instead  of  the  cakes  and 
apples  that  used  to  fall  to  their  share  on  such  occa- 
sions, their  step-mother  gave  them  some  sand,  and  told 
them  they  might  play  at  eating  and  drinking. 

On  the  following  week,  the  queen  sent  little  Elisa 
away  into  the  country,  to  be  brought  up  in  a  cottage 
by  a  homely  couple,  and  she  spoke  so  ill  of  the  poor 
princes  to  their  father,  that  he  ceased  to  care  any 
thing  about  them.  The  wicked  creature  then  said  to 
them,  "  Fly  away  into  the  wide  world ;  you  shall 
become  large  birds  without  any  voices."  But  she 
could  not  completely  accomplish  her  malicious  in- 
tentions, and  the  young  princes  were  changed  into 
eleven  beautiful  wild  swans,  who  immediately  flew 
out  of  the  palace-windows,  with  a  peculiar  cry,  far 
over  the  garden  and  the  wood  beyond. 

It  was  early  in  the  morning  as  they  passed  by  the 
cottage  where  their  sister  lay  asleep.     Here  they 

7*  77 


THE  ELEVEN   WILD  SWANS. 

hovered  over  the  roof  and  flapped  their  wings,  but 
all  to  no  purpose,  as  nobody  saw  or  heard  them :  so 
they  took  their  flight  onward,  till  they  reached  a 
thick  forest  that  stretched  away  to  the  sea-shore. 

Poor  little  Elisa  meantime  remained  secluded  in  the 
peasant's  cottage  till  she  was  fifteen,  when  the  queen 
was  obliged  to  fetch  her  home ;  but,  when  she  saw  how 
pretty  she  was  grown,  she  hated  her  in  her  heart,  and 
would  gladly  have  changed  her  likewise  into  a  swan, 
had  not  the  king  insisted  on  seeing  his  daughter.  Not 
daring  to  do  this,  she  stained  her  skin  with  walnut- 
juice,  rubbed  her  lovely  face  with  rancid  ointment, 
and  tousled  her  hair,  so  that  it  was  impossible  to  re- 
cognize her,  and  when  her  father  saw  her  he  was  quite 
shocked,  and  exclaimed  that  she  was  not  his  daughter. 
Poor  Elisa  then  wept  bitterly,  and  slunk  out  of  the 
palace,  and  wandered  till  she  reached  a  large  forest. 

She  had  not  been  long  in  the  forest  before  night 
came  on,  and  she  lay  down  on  the  moss  and  went 
to  sleep,  and  dreamed  of  her  brothers.  When  she 
awoke,  the  sun  was  already  high  in  the  heavens,  the 
birds  were  singing  blithely,  and  a  number  of  rivu- 
lets ran  babbling  along  till  they  all  fell  into  a  small 
lake,  so  transparent  that  every  leaf  could  be  seen 

78 


THE   ELEVEN   WILD   SWANS. 


reflected  on  its  pure  surface.  When  our  little 
wanderer  looked  into  this  natural  mirror,  she  was 
frightened  to  see  how  brown  and -ugly  she  had  be- 
come ;  but  no  sooner  had  she  washed  her  face  in  its 
waters  than  her  skin  resumed  all  its  whiteness. 


On  pursuing  her  journey,  she  met  an  old  woman, 
of  whom  she  inquired  whether  she  had  seen  eleven 
princes  riding  through  the  forest. 

"  No,"  replied  the  old  woman ;  "but  yesterday  I  saw 
eleven  wild  swans,  with  gold  crowns  on  their  heads, 
swimming  near  the  banks  of  the  stream  close  by  here." 

79 


THE  ELEVEN  WILD  SWANS. 

She  then  led  Elisa  to  the  brow  of  a  hill,  at  the  foot 
of  which  ran  a  stream  overshaded  by  trees,  whose 
drooping  branches  hung  into  the  water.  Elisa  took 
leave  of  her  aged  companion,  and  walked  along  till 
the  stream  flowed  towards  a  wide,  open  shore.  The 
ocean  now  lay  before  the  young  princess;  but  not  a 
sail  was  to  be  seen,  nor  was  a  human  voice  to  be  heard ; 
only  among  the  sea- weeds  she  perceived  eleven  swan's 
feathers,  which  gave  her  hopes  she  should  find  her  bro- 
thers at  last.  Sure  enough,  just  at  sunset  Elisa  per- 
ceived eleven  wild  swans,  with  gold  crowns  on  their 
heads,  flying  towards  the  land,  one  behind  another, 
like  a  long  white  ribbon.  They  alighted  on  the  hill; 
and  no  sooner  had, the  sun  sunk  to  rest  in  the  ocean, 
than  their  swans'  skins  fell  off,  and  they  appeared  as  so 
many  young  men.  The  princess  shrieked  with  joy,  for 
she  recognized  her  brothers,  notwithstanding  they  had 
now  grown  to  manhood's  estate,  and  she  ran  to  em- 
brace them,  calling  them  by  their  names.  The  bro- 
thers were  no  less  delighted  to  see  their  sister,  and 
they  had  soon  mutually  related  how  ill  their  step-mo- 
ther had  behaved  to  them.  The  eldest  brother  then 
said,  "  We  fly  about  as  wild  swans  so  long  as  the  sun 
remains  on  the  horizon,  but  we  recover  our  human 
so 


THE  ELEVEN  WILD  SWANS. 

shape  the  instant  it  has  set.  "We  are,  therefore,  always 
obliged  to  look  out  for  a  resting-place  towards  sunset, 
for,  should  night  surprise  us  up  in  the  clouds,  we 
would  fall  down  into  the  sea  on  becoming  human 
beings.  We  live  in  a  lovely  land  beyond  the  sea ;  but  it 
is  a  long  way  thither,  and  we  have  to  cross  the  ocean, 
where  the  only  footing  we  can  find  for  the  night  is  on 
a  little  rock  just  large  enough  to  allow  us  to  sit  side 
by  side,  and  where  the  waves  wash  over  us  in  rough 
weather.  Yet  we  perform  this  troublesome  voyage 
once  a  year,  for  the  sake  of  visiting  our  native  land. 
Here  we  are  allowed  to  remain  but  eleven  days,  during 
which  we  fly  over  the  forest,  so  as  to  behold  the  palace 
where  our  father  dwells,  and  where  we  spent  our 
happy  childhood  in  our  mother's  lifetime.  We  have 
now  only  two  days  left  to  tarry  in  these  climes ;  but 
what  shall  we  do  to  take  you  with  us,  dear  little 
sister,  when  we  have  neither  ship  nor  boat  ?" 

They  continued  talking  together  nearly  half  the 
night,  until  the  princess  fell  asleep  from  sheer  fatigue. 
She  was  awakened  in  the  morning  by  the  rustling  of 
her  brothers'  wings  overhead,  as  they  flew  away,  all 
except  the  youngest,  who  came  and  nestled  in  Elisa's 
lap.     She  stroked  his  wings  and  caressed  him,  and 

81 


THE  ELEVEN  WILD  SWANS. 


they  remained  together  the  whole  day.  Towards 
evening  the  others  returned,  and,  when  they  had 
recovered  their  natural  form,  they  told  their  sister 
they  would  be  obliged  to  fly  away  on  the  morrow,  but 


that,  if  she  were  not  afraid,  they  felt  their  wings  were 
strong  enough  to  carry  her  across  the  sea.  "  Yes ;  do 
take  me,"  cried  Elisa ;  and  they  spent  the  greater  part 


THE   ELEVEN  WILD  SWANS. 

of  the  night  in  making  a  net  with  rushes  and  the 
pliant  bark  of  willows,  which  was  strong  enough  to 
bear  the  princess  ;  and  when  she  had  lain  down  upon 
it  and  fallen  asleep,  her  brothers,  on  becoming  swans 
at  sunrise,  lifted  it  with  their  beaks  and  flew  up  to  the 
clouds,  while  one  of  them  spread  his  wings  over  her  to 
shade  her  face  from  the  sun.  Elisa  did  not  wake  till 
they  were  far  out  at  sea,  and  it  seemed  like  a  dream 
when  she  found  herself  borne  so  high  in  the  air  that 
the  ships  below  looked  no  larger  than  sea-gulls ;  and 
fearful,  indeed,  it  was,  to  be  flying  betwixt  air  and 
water  for  the  livelong  day  !  Nor  could  the  swans  fly 
so  fast  as  when  unclogged  by  their  precious  burden. 
And  this  Elisa  felt,  and,  when  the  sun  was  fast  dis- 
appearing, and  no  rock  appeared  in  sight,  her  heart 
misgave  her,  and  she  reproached  herself  bitterly  for 
having  exposed  them  to  the  danger  of  resuming  their 
shape  too  soon  and  falling  into  the  sea  and  getting 
drowned  for  her  sake.  But,  lo  and  behold,  when  the 
sun  was  nearly  hid  in  the  waves,  she  perceived  a  rock 
that  looked  no  bigger  than  a  sea-dog's  head,  peeping 
above  the  waves,  and,  just  as  the  parting  rays  of  day- 
light seemed  to  go  out  suddenly,  like  the  sparks  of  a 
piece  of  burnt  paper,  they  alighted  safe  and  sound  on 


THE  ELEVEN  WILD  SWANS. 


their  narrow  footing,  where  there  was  barely  room 
for  one  more  than  their  usual  number. 

At  the  dawn  of  day,  the  swans  flew  onward  with 
their  sister,  and  before  the  sun  had  sunk  to  rest  they 


had  reached  the  shores  of  a  beautiful  land.  She  then 
went  to  sleep  in  a  pretty  grotto.,  hung  with  elegant 
creeping  plants  that  looked  like  richly-embroidered 
tapestry  ;  and,  as  her  waking  and  sleeping  thoughts 
were  always  running  on  the  same  subject,  namely,  how 
her  brothers  were  to  be  delivered  from  the  spell  that 


S4 


THE  ELEVEN  WILD  SWANS. 

bound  them,  it  was  no  wonder  that  she  dreamed  she 
was  flying  up  in  the  air  to  Fata  Morgana's  castle; 
which  she  had  seen  as  they  came  along,  and  that  the 
fairy,  who,  though  young  and  beautiful,  still  bore  a 


distant  resemblance  to  the  old  woman  who  had  told 
her  where  to  find  the  swans,  said  to  her,  "  The  spell 
may  be  broken,  but  it  requires  great  courage  and  per- 
severance to  attempt  it.  You  see  this  nettle  that  I 
hold  in  my  hand  ?  A  number  of  the  same  sort  grow 
around  the  cave  in  which  you  are  sleeping ;  but  those 

8  85 


THE   ELEVEN   WILD   SWANS. 

only,  and  such  as  grow  on  graves  in  churchyards,  are 
available  for  the  purpose  required.  You  must  pluck 
them,  though  they  will  blister  your  hands,  and  by 
treading  them  with  your  feet  you  will  obtain  flax, 
with  which  you  must  plait  eleven  coats  of  mail  with 
long  sleeves,  and  by  putting  these  on  the  eleven 
swans  the  enchantment  will  be  broken.  But,  remem- 
ber, from  the  moment  you  begin  your  work  until  it 
is  concluded,  though  it  should  last  a  year,  you  must 
not  utter  a  syllable,  or  the  first  word  you  speak 
would  pierce  your  brothers'  hearts  like  a  dagger." 
So  saying,  the  fairy  touched  Elisa's  hand  with  the 
nettle,  which  stung  her  so  sharply  that  she  imme- 
diately awoke,  and  by  her  side  she  saw  a  nettle 
exactly  similar  to  the  one  in  her  dream.  She  at 
once  went  out  and  gathered  a  number  of  nettles. 
They  blistered  her  hands  most  dreadfully ;  but  she 
heeded  not  the  pain,  and  only  thought  of  saving 
her  brothers.  After  treading  out  the  nettles  with 
her  bare  feet,  she  began  to  plait  a  coat  of  mail  with 
the  green  flax  thus  obtained.  When  the  brothers 
came  back  in  the  evening,  they  were  frightened 
at  finding  their  sister  dumb;  but  on  looking  at  her 
hands  they  guessed  what  she  was  enduring  for  their 


THE  ELEVEN  WILD  SWANS. 

sakes,  and  the  youngest  brother  wept  from  mingled 
pity  and  gratitude,  and  where  his  tears  fell  the  blis- 
ters disappeared.  She  continued  working  all  night, 
and  during  the  following  day,  while  the  swans  were 
absent.  One  coat  of  mail  was  now  finished,  and  she 
began  a  second.  As  she  was  busy  gathering  more 
nettles,  she  heard  the  sound  of  a  hunting-horn,  and 
flew  back  in  alarm  to  her  grotto,  where  she  was  pre- 
sently followed  by  a  pack  of  hounds  and  huntsmen, 
the  handsomest  among  whom  was  the  king  of  the 
land.  "Where  do  you  come  from,  my  beautiful 
maid?"  said  the  king,  who  had  never  beheld  any  face 
so  lovely  before.  Elisa  only  shook  her  head,  for  she 
dared  not  speak.  "Come  with  me,"  said  the  king, 
"  and  you  shall  be  dressed  in  silk  and  velvet,  and  wear 
a  gold  crown,  and  live  in  my  palace."  So  saying, 
he  lifted  her  on  to  his  horse  and  carried  her  away, 
though  she  wept  and  wrung  her  hands.  At  sunset 
they  reached  the  royal  residence,  and  she  was  taken 
through  a  splendid  suite  of  rooms,  to  a  chamber  where 
a  number  of  ladies'  maids  dressed  her  in  the  most 
sumptuous  clothes,  and  drew  gloves  over  her  poor 
sore  fingers ;  and  when  she  appeared  again  amidst 
the  courtiers,  she  looked  so  beautiful  that  they  all 

sr 


THE  ELEVEN  WILD  SWANS. 

bowed  down  to  her,  and  the  king  chose  her  for  his 
bride, — though  the  archbishop  muttered  something 
about  witchcraft,  and  did  not  half  like  the  notion  of 
such  a  marriage.  But  the  king  did  not  attend  to 
him,  and  ordered  the  music  to  strike  up,  while  a  costly 
supper  was  brought  in,  and  the  loveliest  girls  began 
to  dance  round  the  princess.  But  nothing  could  win 
a  smile  from  her.  Then  the  king  led  her  to  a  little 
cabinet  next  to  her  sleeping-chamber,  which  was  car- 
peted with  a  rich  green  carpet,  and  where  lay  the 
bundle  of  flax  which  she  had  made  out  of  the  nettles, 
and  the  coat  of  mail,  which  one  of  the  huntsmen  had 
brought  away  as  a  curiosity,  and  said  to  her,  "You 
can  here  fancy  yourself  in  your  early  home,  and  com- 
pare your  former  rough  work  with  your  present 
queenly  state."  When  Elisa  heard  this,  she  looked 
pleased  for  the  first  time,  and  kissed  the  king's  hand, 
and  he  was  so  delighted  that  he  caused  all  the  bell3 
in  the  kingdom  to  be  rung,  and  he  raised  the*dumb 
girl  to  the  throne.  The  new  queen  loved  the  king 
for  his  kindness,  and  was  sorry  she  could  not  tell  him 
what  lay  so  heavy  on  her  heart,  and  she  often  got  up 
at  night  and  slipped  away  to  advance  her  work ;  but 
when  she  began  the  seventh  coat  of  mail  she  was 


THE  ELEVEN  WILD  SWANS. 

short  of  flax.  She,  therefore,  went  out  one  night  to 
the  churchyard  to  gather  more  nettles,  and  passed 
by  a  set  of  hideous  witches,  who  feed  on  corpses,  when 
she  happened  to  be  seen  by  the  archbishop,  who  in- 
formed the  king  next  day  of  what  he  had  witnessed. 
The  king,  though  loath  to  believe  any  thing  against 
his  wife,  watched  her  closely  the  following  night, 
while  pretending  to  be  asleep,  and  saw  her  get  up  and 
disappear.  The  same  occurrence  took  place  night 
after  night,  till  she  had  completed  all  but  one  coat 
of  mail,  when,  requiring  some  more  flax,  she  stole 
out  to  the  churchyard,  followed  by  the  king  and  the 
archbishop.  When  the  king  saw  her  pass  by  the 
horrid  witches,  he  believed  her  guilty,  and  said,  with 
a  sigh,  "  The  people  must  judge  her;"  and  the  peo- 
ple condemned  her  to  be  burnt  as  a  witch.  She  was 
then  thrown  into  a  dungeon,  with  nothing  to  lie  upon 
but  the  nettles  and  the  rough  coats  of  mail ;  but  this 
was  a  source  of  joy  to  her,  as  it  enabled  her  to  con- 
tinue her  work.  Towards  evening  her  youngest 
brother  came  and  flapped  his  wings  against  her  pri- 
son-bars, as  if  to  bid  her  take  heart ;  and  before  sun- 
rise the  eleven  princes  repaired  to  the  palace,  and 
requested  an  audience  of  the  king;  but  he  was  asleep, 

8*  80 


THE  ELEVEN  WILD  SWANS. 

&nd  nobody  dared  to  disturb  him,  and  by  dawn  of  day 
they  were  fain  to  fly  over  the  roof  as  so  many  swans. 
The  poor  queen  was  now  led  forth,  in  sackcloth,  on  a 
miserable  cart,  still  working  at  the  eleventh  coat  of 
mail,  while  the  ten  others  lay  around  her.  The  popu- 
lace taunted  her,  and  would  have  torn  her  work  to 
pieces,  when  eleven  swans  flew  down,  and,  settling  on 
the  cart,  kept  flapping  their  wings.  The  mob  then 
cried,  "A  miracle!  she  is  innocent!"  and,  just  as  the 
executioner  was  about  to  seize  her,  she  hastily  slipped 
the  eleven  coats  over  the  swans,  who  instantly  became 
eleven  handsome  princes, — only  the  youngest  had  a 
wing  instead  of  an  arm,  as  she  had  not  had  time  to 
finish  the  sleeve.  "  Yes,  I  am  innocent !"  cried  she, 
"  for  now  I  may  speak."  And  the  populace  knelt 
before  her  as  to  a  saint,  while  she  fainted  away  from 
exhaustion.  The  eldest  brother  then  related  all  that 
had  happened,  and  while  he  spoke  every  fagot  on  the 
pile  had  taken  root,  and  became  a  beautiful  rose,  and 
at  the  top  of  all  bloomed  a  white  rose,  which  the 
king  gathered,  and  laid  on  Elisa's  bosom,  when  she 
returned  to  life  and  happiness.  And  then  the  bells 
pealed  merrily,  and  a  feast  was  held,  the  like  of  which 
had  never  been  seen  before. 

90 


§0ltf  §jrbi»  §O0t 


-The  famous  Robin  Hood  was  born  at  Locksley, 
Nottinghamshire,  about  1160.  He  was  a  handsome 
youth,  and  the  best  archer  in  the  county,  and  regu- 
larly bore  away  the  prizes  at  all  the  archery-meetings, 
being  able  to  strike  a  deer  five  hundred  yards  off.  In 
truth,  he  was  just  fit  to  be  one  of  the  royal  archers, 
and  would,  no  doubt,  have  turned  out  better,  had  not 
his  uncle  been  persuaded  by  the  monks  of  Fountain 
Abbey  to  leave  all  his  property  to  the  Church;  and 
thus  poor  Robin,  being  sent  adrift  into  the  world,  took 
refuge  in  Sherwood  Forest,  where  he  met  with  several 
other  youths,  who  soon  formed  themselves  into  a  band 
under  his  leadership  and  commenced  leading  the  life 
of  outlaws.  Robin  Hood  and  his  men  adopted  a  uni- 
form of  Lincoln  green,  with  a  scarlet  cap;  and  each 
man  was  armed  with  a  dagger  and  a  basket-hilted 
sword,  and  a  bow  in  his  hand,  and  a  quiver  slung  on 
his  back,  while  the  captain  always  had  a  bugle-horn 
with  him  to  summon  his  followers  about  him. 

One  day,  when  Robin  Hood  set  out  alone  in  hopes 
of  meeting  with  some  adventure,  he  reached  a  brook, 
over  which  a  narrow  plank  was  laid  to  serve  for  a 
bridge,  and,  just  as  he  was  going  to  cross  it,  a  tall 

91 


ROBIN  HOOD. 


and  handsome  stranger  appeared  on  the  other  side, 
and,  as  neither  seemed  disposed  to  give  way,  they 
met  in  the  middle  of  the  bridge. 


"  Go  hack,"  cried  the  stranger  to  Robin  Hood, 
11  or  it  will  be  the  worse  for  you." 

But  Robin  Hood  laughed  at  the  idea  of  his  giving 
way  to  anybody,  and  proposed  they  should  each  take 
an  oak  branch  and  fight  it  out.  Accordingly,  they 
set  to  in  right  earnest;  and,  after  thrashing  each 

92 


ROBIN   HOOD. 

other  well,  the  stranger  gave  Eobin  Hood  a  blow  on 
his  head,  which  effectually  pitched  him  into  the 
water.  When  Eobin  Hood  had  waded  back  to  the 
bank,  he  put  his  bugle  to  his  lips,  and  blew  several 
blasts,  till  the  forest  rang  again,  and  his  followers 
came  leaping  from  all  directions  to  see  what  their 
captain  wanted.  When  he  had  told  them  how  he 
had  been  served  by  the  stranger, 'they  would  fain 
have  ducked  him ;  but  Robin  Hood,  who  admired  his 
bravery,  proposed  to  him  to  join  their  band. 

"  Here's  my  hand  on  it,"  cried  the  stranger,  de- 
lighted at  the  proposal.  "  Though  my  name  is  John 
Little,  you  shall  find  I  can  do  great  things." 

But  Will  Stutely,  one  of  Robin's  merry  men,  in- 
sisted upon  it  that  he  must  be  re-christened :  so  a 
feast  was  held,  a  barrel  of  ale  broached,  and  the  new- 
comer's name  was  changed  from  John  Little  to  Little 
John,  which  nickname,  seeing  that  he  was  near  seven 
feet  high,  was  a  perpetual  subject  for  laughter. 

Not  long  after  this,  as  Robin  Hood  sat  one  morn- 
ing by  the  wayside  trimming  his  bow  and  arrows, 
there  rode  by  a  butcher  with  a  basket  of  meat,  who 
was  hastening  to  market.  After  bidding  him  good- 
morrow,  Robin  asked  what  he  would  take  for  the 

93 


ROBIN    HOOD. 

horse  and  the  basket.  The  butcher,  somewhat  sur- 
prised, answered  he  would  not  care  to  sell  them  for 
less  than  four  silver  marks.  "  Do  but  throw  your 
greasy  frock  into  the  bargain,"  said  Eobin,  "  and 
here's  the  money."  Glad  of  so  good  a  bargain,  the 
butcher  lost  no  time  in  dismounting  and  throwing  off 
his  smock-frock,  which  the  outlaw  put  on  over  his 
clothes,  and  then  galloped  away  to  Nottingham. 

On  reaching  the  town,  Eobin  Hood  put  up  his  horse 
at  an  inn,  and  then  went  into  the  market,  and,  un- 
covering his  basket,  began  to  sell  its  contents  about 
five  times  cheaper  than  all  the  other  butchers.  The 
other  butchers  could  not  at  first  understand  why 
everybody  flocked  to  purchase  his  goods  in  prefer- 
ence to  theirs;  but  when  they  heard  that  he  had 
sold  a  leg  of  pork  for  a  shilling,  they  consulted  to- 
gether, and  agreed  that  he  must  be  some  rich  man's 
son,  who  was  after  a  frolic,  or  else  a  downright  mad- 
man, and  that  they  had  better  try  and  learn  something 
more  about  him,  or  else  he  would  ruin  their  business. 
So,  when  the  market  was  over,  one  of  them  invited 
E;obin  Hood  to  dine  with  their  company.  The  Sheriff 
of  Nottingham  presided  at  the  head  of  the  table, 
while  at  the  other  end  sat  the  innkeeper.     The  out- 

94 


BOBIN   HOOD. 


law  played  his  part  as  well  as  the  rest  of  them ;  and 
when  the  dishes  were  removed;  he  called  for  more 
wine,  telling  them  all  to  drink  as  much  as  they  could 
carry,  and  he  would  pay  the  reckoning. 


The  sheriff  then  turned  to  Robin  Hood,  and  asked 
him  whether  he  had  any  horned  beasts  to  sell.  Robin 
Hood  replied  he  had  some  two  or  three  hundreds ; 

05 


HOBIN   HOOD. 

whereupon  the  sheriff  said  that,  as  he  wanted  a  few 
heads  of  cattle,  he  would  like  to  ride  over  and  look  at 
them  that  same-  day.  80  B,obin  flung  down  a  hand- 
ful of  silver  on  the  table,  by  way  of  farewell  to  his  as- 
tonished companions,  and  set  out  for  Sherwood  Forest 
with  the  sheriff,  who  had  mounted  his  palfrey,  and 
provided  himself  with  a  bag  of  gold  for  his  purchase. 
The  outlaw  was  so  full  of  jokes  and  merriment  as  they 
went  along  that  the  sheriff  thought  he  had  never 
fallen  in  with  a  pleasanter  fellow.  On  a  sudden,  how- 
ever, the  sheriff  recollected  that  the  woods  were  in- 
fested by  Eobin  Hood  and  his  band,  and  he  said  to 
his  companion  he  hoped  they  would  not  meet  with 
any  of  them,  to  which  he  only  answered  by  a  loud 
laugh.  Presently  they  reached  the  forest,  when  a 
herd  of  deers  crossed  their  path.  "  How  do  you  like 
my  horned  beasts.  Master  Sheriff?"  inquired  Robin, 
"  To  tell  you  the  mith,"  replied  the  sheriff,  "I  only 
half  like  your  company,  and  wish  myself  away  from 
hence."  Then  Robin  Hood  put  his  bugle  to  his  mouth 
and  blew  three  blasts,  when  about  a  hundred  men, 
with  Little  John  at  their  head,  immediately  sur- 
rounded them,  and  the  latter  inquirecbwhat  his  mas- 
ter wanted.    "  I  have  brought  the  Sheriff  of  Notting- 

96 


EOBIN  HOOD. 

ham  to  dine  with  us,"  said  Eooin.  "  He  is  welcome," 
quoth  Little  John;  "and  I  hope  he  will  pay  well  for 
his  dinner."  They  then  took  the  bag  of  gold  from 
the  luckless  sheriff,  and  counted  out  three  hundred 
pounds ;  after  which  Eobin  asked  him  if  he  would 
like  some  venison  for  dinner.  But  the  sheriff  told 
him  to  let  him  go,  or  he  would  rue  the  day :  so  the 
outlaw  desired  his  best  compliments  to  his  good 
dame,  and  wished  him  a  pleasant  journey  home. 

But,  if  Eobin  loved  a  joke,  he  often  did  a  good  turn 
to  those  who  needed  his  assistance.  Thus,  he  lent  four 
hundred  golden  pounds  to  Sir  Ey chard  o'  the  Lee,  who 
had  mortgaged  his  lands  of  Wierysdale  for  that  sum  to 
St.  Mary's  Abbey,  and  who  happened  to  pass  through 
Sherwood  Forest  on  his  way  to  York,  to  beg  the  abbot 
to  grant  him  another  year.  Eobin  Hood,  moreover, 
bid  LittljfJohn  accompany  him  as  his  squire.  When 
they  rejSned  the  city,  the  superior  was  seated  in  his 
hall,  and  declared  to  the  brethren  that  if  Sir  Ey  chard 
did  not  appear  before  sunset  his  lands  would  be  for- 
feited. Presently  the  Knight  of  Wierysdale  came  in, 
and  pretended  to  beg  for  mercy;  but  the  proud  abbot 
spurned  him,  when  Sir  Ey  chard  flung  the  gold  at  his 
feet  and  snatched  away  the  deed,  telling  him  if  he  had 

9  M 


ROBIN   HOOD. 


shown  a  little  Christian  mercy  he  should  not  only  have 

returned  the  money,  but  made  a  present  to  the  abbey. 

Another  time,  as  Robin  Hood  was  roaming  through 

the  forest,  he  saw  a  handsome  young  man  coming 


along  with  disordered  clothes  and  dishevelled  hair, 
and  sighing  deeply  at  every  step.  Eobin  Hood,  hav- 
ing sent  one  of  his  men  to  fetch  him,  inquired  what 


98 


EOBIN   HOOD. 

lay  so  heavy  on  his  heart.'  The  young  man  pulled  out 
his  purse,  and  showed  him  a  ring,  saying,  "  I  bought 
this  yesterday  to  marry  a  maiden  I  have  courted 
these  seven  long  years,  and  this  morning  she  is  gone 
to  church  to  wed  another."  "Does  she  love  you?" 
said  Robin.  "  She  has  told  me  so  a  hundred  times/' 
answered  Allen-a-Dale,  for  such  was  the  youth's  name. 
"  Tut,  man !  then  she  is  not  worth  caring  for,  if  she  be 
so  fickle  I"  cried  Robin.  "  But  she  does  not  love  him," 
interrupted  Allen-a-Dale ;  "  he  is  an  old  cripple, 
quite  unfit  for  such  a  lovely  lass."  "  Then  why  does 
she  marry  him?"  inquired  Robin.  "  Because  the  old 
knight  is  rich,  and  her  parents  insist  upon  it,  and 
have  scolded  and  raved  at  her  till  she  is  as  meek  as 
a  lamb."  "And  where  is  the  wedding  to  take  place?" 
said  Robin.  "At  our  parish,  five  miles  from  hence," 
said  Allen ;  "  and  the  Bishop  of  Hereford,  the  bride- 
groom's brother,  is  to  perform  the  ceremony." 

Then,  without  more  ado,  Robin  Hood  dressed  him- 
self up  as  a  harper,  with  a  flowing  white  beard  and  a 
dark-coloured  mantle,  and,  bidding  twenty-four  of  his 
men  follow  at  a  distance,  he  entered  the  church  and 
took  his  place  near  the  altar.  Presently  the  old 
knight  appeared,  hobbling  along,  and  handing  in  a 

99 


ROBIN   HOOD. 

maiden  as  fair  as  day,  all  tears  and  blushes,  accom- 
panied by  her  young  companions  strewing  flowers. 
"  This  is  not  a  fit  match,"  said  Robin,  aloud;  "  and  I 
forbid  the  marriage."  And  then,  to  the  astonishment 
of  the  bishop  and  of  all  present,  he  blew  a  blast  on 
his  horn,  when  four-and-twenty  archers  came  leaping 
into  the  churchyard  and  entered  the  building.  Fore- 
most among  these  was  Allen-a-Dale,  who  presented 
his  bow  to  Robin  Hood.  The  outlaw  by  this  time  had 
cast  off  his  cloak  and  false  beard,  and,  turning  to  the 
bride,  said,  "  Now,  pretty  one,  tell  me  freely  whom 
you  prefer  for  a  husband, — this  gouty  old  knight,  or 
one  of  these  bold  young  fellows?"  "Alas!"  said  the 
young  maid,  casting  down  her  eyes,  "Allen-a-Dale  has 
courted  me  for  seven  long  years;  and  he  is  the  man  I 
would  choose."  "  Then  now,  my  good  lord  bishop," 
said  Robin,  "  prithee  unite  this  loving  pair  before  we 
leave  the  church."  "  That  cannot  be,"  said  the  bishop : 
"  the  law  requires  they  should  be  asked  three  times 
in  the  church."  "  If  that  is  all,"  quoth  Robin,  "we'll 
soon  settle  that  matter."  Then,  pulling  off- the  bishop's 
gown,  he  dressed  Little  John  up  in  it,  gave  him  the 
book,  and  bid  him  ask  them  seven  times  in  the 
church,  lest  three  should  not  be  enough.  Robin 
100 


ROBIN   HOOD. 

Hood  gave  away  the  maiden ;  and  the  whole  com- 
pany had  a  venison  dinner  in  Sherwood  Forest;  and 
from  that  day  Allen-a-Dale  was  a  staunch  friend 
to  Robin  Hood  as  long  as  he  lived. 

Eobin  Hood  had  often  heard  tell  of  the  prowess  of 
a  certain  Friar  Tuck,  who,  having  been  expelled  from 
Fountain's  Abbey  for  his  irregular  conduct,  lived  in  a 
rude  hut  he  had  built  himself  amidst  the  woods,  and 
who  was  said  to  wield  a  quarter-staff  and  let  fly  an 
arrow  better  than  any  man  in  Christendom.  So,  being 
anxious  to  see  how  far  this  was  true,  Robin  set  off  one 
morning  for  Fountain's  Dale,  where  he  found  the  friar 
rambling  on  the  bank  of  the  river  Skell.  The  outlaw 
walked  up  to  him,  saying,  "  Carry  me  over  this  water, 
thou  brawny  friar,  or  thou  hast  not  an  hour  to  live." 
The  friar  tucked  up  his  gown,  and  carried  him  over 
without  a  word ;  but  when  Robin  seemed  to  be  going, 
he  cried  out,  "  Stop,  my  fine  fellow,  and  carry  me 
over  this  water,  or  it  shall  breed  you  pain."  Robin 
did  so,  and  then  said,  "As  you  are  double  my  weight, 
it  is  fair  I  should  have  two  rides  to  your  one :  so 
carry  me  back  again."  The  friar  again  took  Robin 
on  his  back ;  but,  on  reaching  the  middle  of  the 
stream, he  pitched  him  into  the  water,  saying,  "Now, 

9*  101 


."ROBIN    HOOD. 


my  fine  fellow,  let's  see  whether  you'll  sink  or  swim." 
Eobin  swam  to  the  bank,  and  said,  "  I  see  you  are 
worthy  to  be  my  match  ;"  and  then,  summoning  his 
foresters  by  a  blast  of  his  bugle  he  told  the  friar  he 


was  Robin  Hood,  and  asked  him  to  join  his  band. 
"  If  there's  an  archer  among  you  that  can  beat  me 
at  the  long-bow,  then  I'll  be  your  man,"  quoth  Friar 
Tuck.  Then,  pointing  to  a  hawk  on  the  wing,  he 
added,  "  I'll  kill  it,  and  he  who  can  strike  it  again 


102 


ROBIN   HOOD. 

before  it  falls  will  be  the  better  man  of  the  two." 
Little  John  accepted  the  challenge.  The  shafts  flew 
off;  and  when  the  dead  bird  was  picked  up,  it  was 
found  that  the  friar's  arrow  had  pinioned  the  hawk's 
wings  to  his  sides,  and  that  Little  John's  had  trans- 
fixed it  from  breast  to  back.  So  Friar  Tuck  owned 
himself  outdone,  and  joined  Kobin's  merry  men. 

One  morning  six  priests  passed  through  Sherwood 
Forest,  on  richly-caparisoned  horses ;  and,  thinking 
a  good  prize  was  in  the  wind,  the  outlaws  bid  them 
halt,  and  Friar  Tuck  seized  the  .bridle  of  the  one 
whom  he  judged  to  be  the  abbot,  and  bid  him  pay 
the  toll.  The  abbot  got  down,  and  gave  him  a  cuff 
that  made  his  ears  tingle;  then  Robin  flung  him  on 
his  knees,  and  plucked  him  by  the  beard.  Quoth 
Friar  Tuck,  "We  don't  take  that  sort  of  coin." 
"  But  we  are  going  on  a  message  from  King  Richard," 
said  the  abbot.  Then  Robin  bid  the  friar  desist,  say- 
ing, "God  save  the  king,  and  confound  all  his  foes!" 
"You  are  a  noble  fellow,"  quoth  the  abbot ;  "  and  if 
you  and  your  men  will  give  up  this  lawless  life  and 
become  my  archers,  you  shall  have  the  king's  par- 
don." He  then  opened  his  gown,  and  Robin  Hood 
and  his  archers,  guessing  at  once  that  Richard  him- 

103 


KOBIK"   HOOD. 


self  stood  before  them,  bent  their  knees  to  their 
liege  lord,  crying,  "  Long  live  King  Richard  I" 


So  Robin  Hood  accompanied  the  king  to  London, 
followed  by  fifty  of  his  most  faithful  adherents ;  and 
here  he  assumed  the  title  of  Earl  of  Huntingdon. 
But  he  soon  grew  tired  of  the  confinement  of  court, 


1U 


HOBIN  hood. 

and  asked  permission  to  revisit  the  woods.  The  king 
granted  him  seven  days ;  but,  when  once  he  breathed 
the  pure  air  of  Sherwood  again,  he  could  not  tear 
himself  away ;  and  when,  from  old  habit,  he  sounded 
his  bugle,  he  was  surprised  to  see  the  signal  answered 
by  fourscore  youths.  Little  John  soon  joined  him, 
and  he  again  became  the  leader  of  a  band.  King 
Kichard  was  so  enraged  on  hearing  this,  that  he  sent 
two  hundred  soldiers  to  reduce  the  rebel ;  and  a  des- 
perate fight  took  place  on  a  plain  in  the  forest,  when 
Eobin  Hood  was  wounded  by  an  arrow,  and  removed 
to  Kirkley's  Nunnery,  where  the  treacherous  prioress 
suffered  him  to  bleed  to  death.  Seeing  his  end  fast 
approaching,  he  called  to  Little  John,  and  begged 
him  to  remove  him  to  the  woods,  and  there  poor  Eobin 
Hood  died,  as  he  had  lived,  beneath  the  green  trees, 
and  was  buried  according  to  his  wish.  The  stone  that 
marked  the  spot  bore  the  following  inscription: — 

u  Here,  underneath  this  little  stone, 
Lies  Robert,  Earl  of  Huntingdon, 
Ne'er  archer  was  as  he  so  good ; 
And  people  call'd  him  'Robin  Hood.' 
Such  outlaws  as  he  and  his  men 
Will  England  never  see  again." 

105 


l&ke  §mt  ptotttttaittjs. 


There  once  lived  in  the  village  of  Bambin  an 
honest  hard-working  peasant,  named  Jacob  Dietrich, 
who  supported  his  wife  and  family  on  the  labor  of 
his  hands.  Of  all  their  children,  none,  perhaps,  was 
so  dear  to  the  parents  as  Johnny,  the  youngest,  who 
was  the  prettiest  and  liveliest  little  fellow  ever  seen, 
and  was  always  perfect  in  his  tasks  at  school,  and 
well-behaved  at  home.  When  Johnny  was  eight 
years  old,  he  spent  the  summer  at  his  uncle's,  who 
was  a  farmer  in  Ptodenkirchen ;  and  here  he  used  to 
be  sent,  together  with  the  other. boys,  to  drive  the 
cows  into  the  meadows  near  the  nine  mountains, 
where  they  sat  and  watched  them  all  day  long.  It 
happened  that  an  old  cowherd,  called  Klas  Stark- 
wolt,  used  to  bring  his  cattle  the  same  way,  and 
frequently  joined  the  boys,  and  told  them  amusing 
stories.  Now,  Johnny  delighted  in  these  tales  beyond 
any  thing;  so  he  and  the  old  cowherd  soon  became 

106 


THE  NINE    MOUNTAINS. 

sworn  friends.     Among   other  things,   Klas  told 

or^tSr/011^  Partrkrs  about  the  d^ 
or  little  under-ground  people,  that  dwelt  within  the 

nine  mountains.    Of  these  dwarfs  there  arldifferent 


£  thfe  *¥>  *«*  *e  brown,_so  called  from  the 
colour  of  their  clothes,-the  former  of  which  are 
charming  little  elves,  that  are  always  friendly  to  the 

SbLrw  £ Ut  °17  *?°  °f  the  mounta«s  ^e 
inhabited  by  these;  the  brown  ones,  that  fill  the  ' 

107 


THE   NINE    MOUNTAINS. 

remaining  mountains,  are  not  exactly  bad,  but 
wanton  and  tricksy.  There  were  also  black  dwarfs, 
Vfko  were  wonderfully  clever  in  all  sorts  of  arts,  and 
excellent  smiths,  but  deceitful  and  mischievous,  and 
not  to  be  trusted ;  but  none  of  these  lived  in  that 
neighbourhood.  The  dwarfs  were  fond  of  dancing  in 
the  moonshine  on  a  fine  summer's  night;  and  formerly 
many  a  child  was  enticed  by  the  sweet  sound  of  their 
music,  which  they  mistook  for  birds,  and  were  carried 
away  under  ground  by  the  little  people,  whom  they 
were  condemned  to  serve  for  fifty  years.  At  the  end 
of  their  time,  the  elves  are  obliged  to  give  back  all 
their  captives;  and  it  is  well  for  the  latter  that  they 
never  become  older  than  the  age  of  twenty,  even 
though  they  had  completed  their  half-century's  du- 
rance. All  come  back  young  and  beautiful,  and 
generally  meet  with  great  luck  in  the  world,  either 
because  they  have  become  wise  and  ingenious  during 
their  stay  below,  or  that  the  little  people  help  them 
unseen,  and  bring  them  gold  and  silver.  But  now- 
a-days,  said  Klas,  people  had  grown  more  cautious; 
the  spot  was  avoided ;  and  it  only  seldom  happened 
that  children  were  stolen.  And  in  process  of  time, 
too,  as  the  old  cowherd  remarked,  ^  nac^  been  found 

108 


THE   NINE   MOUNTAINS. 

out  that,  if  any  mortal  was  lucky  enough  to  find  or 
steal  a  cap  belonging  to  one  of  the  under-ground 
folk,  he  might  go  down  in  safety,  and  could  not  be 
detained  against  his  will ;  and,  so  far  from  becoming 
their  seryant,  the  owner  of  the  cap  was  obliged  to 
do  his  bidding  in  every  thing. 

These  wonderful  tales  had  so  fired  little  Johnny's 
imagination,  that  he  thought  of  nothing  but  gold  and 
silver  cups,  and  glass  shoes,  and  pockets  full  of  ducats, 
and  all  the  rest  of  the  fine  things  described  by  the  old 
cowherd  as  occasionally  bestowed  on  their  favourites 
by  the  dwarfs ;  and  when  midsummer  came,  and  the 
nights  were  the  shortest,  he  could  resist  no  longer, 
but  away  he  slunk  afte*  \lark,  and  went  and  lay 
down  on  the  top  of  the  higV-st  of  the  nine  mountains, 
which  Klas  had  informed  him  was  their  principal 
dancing-place.  It  must  be  confessed  the  little  fellow 
felt  some  strange  misgivings,  and  his  heart  thumped 
against  his  breast  like  a  sledge-hammer ;  yet  there 
he  remained  in  breathless  expectation  from  ten  till 
twelve  o'clock,  at  which  hour  he  began  to  hear  a 
rustling  all  around  him,  and  the  laughing,  singing, 
and  piping  of  innumerable  little  people,  some  of  whom 
were  dancing,  and  others  playing  a  thousand  merry 

10  109 


THE  NINE   MOUNTAINS. 

antics.  Johnny  half  shuddered  as  he  heard  them 
swarming  about,  (for  he  could  not  see  them,  afe  their 
caps  made  them  invisible,)  but  he  had  sufficient  pre- 
sence of  mind  to  lie  perfectly  quiet,  and  to  pretend 
to  be  fast  asleep,  except  that-  he  now  and  then  stole 


a  dance,  just  to  see  if  there  was  any  chance  of  get- 
ting one  of  these  diminutive  beings  into  his  power. 
Su?e  enough,  before  long  three  of  the  dwarfs  ap- 
proached the  spot  where  he  by,  though  without 
perceiving  him,  and  began  to  play  at  tossing  their 
no 


THE   NINE   MOUNTAINS. 

caps  up  into  the  air,  when  one  snatched  his  play- 
mate's cap  out  of  his  hand  in  frolic  sport,  and  flung 
it  away.  '  The  cap  flew  right  over  Johnny's  face, 
when  he  caught  it  softly,  and,  ringing  the  little 
silver  bell  affixed  to  it  in  high  glee,  he  put  it  on  his 
head,  when  he  suddenly  beheld  the  little  subter- 
ranean people  in  countless  thousands,  they  being  now 
no  longer  invisible  to  his  sight.  The  three  dwarfs 
now  came  slily  up  to  him  to  endeavour  to  snatch 
back  the  cap,  but  the  little  boy  held  it  fast,  and  they 
saw  that  they  should  not  succeed  in  that  way,  for 
Johnny  was  a  giant  to  them,  as  they  only  reached 
to  his  knees.  So  the  owner  of  the  cap  humbled  him- 
self before  the  finder,  and  begged  him  to  restore  his 
property;  but  Johnny  said,  "You  shall  not  get  it, 
you  cunning  little  rogue.  I  should  have  fared  badly 
among  you  if  I  had  not  obtained  some  token  of 
yours ;  but,  as  it  happens,  you  must  do  my  bidding. 
I  have  a  fancy  to  go  under  ground  and  see  what  the 
place  is  like,  and  you  must  be  my  servant,  as  you 
well  know."  The  little  being  pretended  not  to  hear 
or  to  understand,  and  continued  whining  most  pite- 
ously,  till  Johnny  ordered  him  very  imperiously  to 
bring  him  supper,  as  he  was  hungry.    Away  the 

111 


THE   NINE  MOUNTAINS. 


dwarf  was  obliged  to  scamper,  and  brought  back 
bread,  fruit,  and  wine,  in  a  trice.  And  Johnny 
supped  like  a  king,  while  he  watched  the  games  and 
the  dancing  of  the  little  subterranean  people. 


When  the  cock  had  crowed  three  times,  all  was 
hushed  in  an. instant,  and  nothing  more  was  heard 
but  hundreds  of  tiny  feet  tripping  away  to  their 
respective  mountains,  which  opened  to  receive  them. 
On  the  top  of  the  mountain  where  the  ball  had  been 
held,  and  which  but  a  moment  before  was  covered 

112 


THE   NINE   MOUNTAINS. 

with  grass  and  flowers,  there  now  rose  a  glass  peak, 
which  opened  as  each  elf  stepped  upon  it,  and  then 
closed  again  after  they  had  slid  down.  As  soon  as 
all  the  inhabitants  had  entered,  the  peak  disappeared 
entirely;  while  those  who  had  fallen  through  the 
tube  sank  softly  into  a  broad  silver  barrel,  capable 
of  holding  a  thousand  such  little  folk  as  these,  and 
which  was  fastened  to  silver  chains  that  were  drawn 
downwards  and  secured  below.  Johnny  and  his 
bondsman  fell  down  with  many  others,  and  they  all 
cried  out  to  him  to  entreat  him  not  to  tread  upon 
them,  as  his  weight  would  kill  them.  He,  however, 
took  great  care  not  to  hurt  any  one.  Several  bar- 
rels were  thus  successively  filled,  till  all  had  reached 
home. 

Johnny  was  much  surprised,  on  being  let  down,  at 
the  brightness  of  the  walls,  which  seemed  to  be  made 
of  diamond ;  and  when  he  was  once  below,  he  heard 
such  lovely  music  that  he  was  lulled  immediately 
into  a  deep  slumber. 

When  he  woke,  he  felt  as  if  he  had  slept  a  long 
while,  and  he  found  himself  in  the  softest,  neatest 
bed,  such  as  he  had  never  even  seen  before,  which 
stood  in  the  nicest  chamber ;  while  by  his  side  stood 

10*  113 


THE   NINE   MOUNTAINS. 


his  little  brown  elf,  (for  it  was  amongst  the  brown 
jackets  that  Johnny  had  fallen,)  chasing  away  the 
flies  with  a  feather  fan,  lest  they  should  disturb  his 
master's  rest.  Scarcely  had  Johnny  opened  his  eyes, 
when  his  little  valet  brought  him  a  basin  and  a  towel, 


and  then  an  elegant  suit  of  clothes,  made  of  brown 
silk,  and  a  pair  of  black  shoes  with  red  ties,  far 
smarter  than  any  Johnny  had  ever  seen  in  Rambin 
or  Eodenkirchen.  Besides  these,  several  pairs  of 
the  most  beautiful  glass  shoes  were  laid  by  ready 


THE   NINE   MOUNTAINS. 

to  be  worn  on  holidays.  The  little  boy  was  vastly 
pleased  to  have  such  nice  clothes  given  him,  and  was 
very  willing  to  let  himself  be  dressed.  No  sooner  was 
his  toilet  completed,  than  the  elf  went  and  returned, 
on  the  wings  of  the  wind,  with  a  golden  tray,  bearing 
a  bottle  of  sweet  wine,  a  bowl  of  milk,  fruit,  bread, 
and  a  number  of  nice  dishes,  such  as  children  are 
fond  of.  In  short,  a  more  obedient  servant  there 
could  not  be;  a  look  from  his  master  was  enough 
without  the  help  of  words,  for,  like  all  the  rest  of  the 
.little  people,  the  elf  was  wonderfully  shrewd. 

After  breakfast,  the  dwarf  opened  a  closet,  in  which 
were  stowed  away  a  number  of  bowls,  chests,  and 
vases  containing  gold  and  precious  stones,  while  on 
another  shelf  stood  a  whole  library  of  story-books 
filled  with  pretty  pictures.  Johnny  was  so  well 
amused  with  looking  at  these,  and  admiring  every 
thing  around  him,  that  he  did  not  care  to  go  out  that 
morning.  Indeed,  the  room  itself  might  have  excited 
the  wonder  even  of  those  accustomed  to  a  palace. 
Besides  the  snow-white  bed  with  its  satin  pillows, 
there  were  curiously-carved  chairs,  inlaid  with  pre- 
cious stones.  Near  the  walls  stood  white  marble 
tables,  and  a  couple  of  smaller  ones  made  of  eme- 
us 


TEE  NINE    MOUNTAINS. 


raid ;  and  at  one  end  of  the  chamber  were  hung  two 
looking-glasses  set  in  jewelled  frames.  The  walls 
of  the  chamber  were  wainscoted  with  table  emeralds, 
and  a  large  diamond  ball  was  suspended  from  the 


ceiling,  and  shed  so  bright  a  light  that  no  other  lamp 
was  necessary.  For  it  must  be  observed,  that  neither 
sun,  moon,  nor  stars  are  to  be  seen  under  ground ; 
nor  is  there  any  distinction  between  the  seasons, 
which  seems  at  first  rather  a  drawback,  but  the 

116 


THE  NINE   MOUNTAINS. 

temperature  is  always  as  mild  as  our  spring,  and  the 
lustre  of  the  precious  stones  supplies  the  place  of" 
daylight.  Yet  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  their  days 
are  never  so  bright,  nor  their  nights  so  dark,  as  upon 
earth.  So  that  all  things  have  their  compensation. 
At  noon  a  bell  rang,  when  the  serf  cried,  "  Master, 
will  you  dine  alone,  or  with  the  rest  of  the  company?" 
"  With  the  company,"  replied  Johnny.  The  elf  then 
led  him  forth,  when  Johnny,  seeing  nothing  but  a 
number  of  passages  brilliantly  lit  up  with  precious 
stones,  and  little  men  and  women,  who  popped  out 
one  by  one,  apparently  from  clefts  in  the  rock,  in- 
quired where  the  company  was.  He  had  scarcely 
spoken,  before  the  passage  through  which  they  were 
passing  widened,  and  became  an  immense  hall,  with 
a  large  dome  inlaid  with  diamonds,  and  Johnny  per- 
ceived a  countless  throng  of  elegantly-dressed  little 
men  and  women  entering  by  a  number  of  open  doors, 
while  tables  loaded  with  delicious  viands  came  up 
through  the  floor,  and  chairs  arranged  themselves 
ready  for  the  guests.  The  principal  personages  now 
came  to  welcome  Johnny,  and  placed  him  at  table 
by  the  side  of  some  of  the  loveliest  maidens.  The 
dinner  was  very  gay,  for  the  under-ground  folks  are 

117 


THE   NINE   MOUNTAINS. 

remarkably  cheerful  and  frolicsome ;  and  there  was 
the  sweetest  music  all  the  time,  proceeding  from  a 
number  of  artificial  birds,  so  cunningly  made  by 
these  clever  little  people  that  they  sang  and  flew 
about  as  though  they  had  really  belonged  to  the 
feathered  tribes  that  inhabit  our  woods.  The  elves 
were  waited  upon  by  the  boys  and  girls  who  had 
fallen  into  >  their  power  from  having  come  down 
without  previously  securing  a  pledge;  and  it  was 
they  who  sprinkled  the  floor  with  perfumes,  who 
handed  about  the  golden  goblets,  and  presented 
silver  and  crystal  baskets  full  of  fruits  to  the  guests. 
These  youths  and  maidens  were  dressed  in  white, 
with  blue  caps,  silver  girdles,  and  delicate  glass 
shoes,  so  that  their  steps  could  always  be  heard. 
Johnny  pitied  them  at  first,  till  he  saw  how  cheerful 
and  how  rosy  they  looked,  and  then  he  reflected  that 
they  were  much  better  off  than  he  used  to  be  when 
he  drove  the  cows. 

After  the  party  had  sat  at  the  social  board  for  a 
couple  of  hours,  the  principal  elf  rang  a  bell,  and  the 
tables  and  chairs  disappeared,  and  laurels,  palm-trees, 
and  orange-trees  grew  up  in  their  stead,  and  the  little 
people  fell  to  dancing,  till  about  what  we  should  call 

118 


THE  NINE   MOUNTAINS. 

four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  they  slipped  away 
one  by  one,  and  went  either  to  their  work  or  to  amuse 
themselves  in  some  other  manner.  At  night,  supper 
was  held  just  as  merrily,  after  which  the  elves  went 
up  out  of  their  mountain,  while  Johnny  laid  himself 
quietly  in  bed,  after  saying  his  prayers  as  usual. 

Johnny  led  this  life  for  many  weeks,  during  which 
he  saw  but  little  of  the  elves,  except  at  dinner  and  at 
supper,  as  each  lived  in  his  own  little  crystal  house, 
deep  in  the  bosom  of  the  mountain,  which  was  trans- 
parent from  one  end  to  the  other,  though  not  to  the 
eyes  of  a  mere  child  of  earth.  Yet  occasionally  he 
met  a  stray  elf  hurrying  along,  when  he  was  taking  a 
walk  with  his  little  serf.  For  he  had  found  out  there 
were  lakes,  and  fields,  and  trees,  here  below,  just  as 
on  the  earth  above ;  only  there  was  a  crystal  vault 
that  invariably  led  from  one  meadow,  or  one  lake, 
into  another  district,  though  each  patch  of  land  or 
sheet  of  water  was  sometimes  a  mile  in  circumference. 
It  was  during  one  of  these  walks,  after  he  had  been 
many  months  below,  that  Johnny  once  perceived  a 
snow-white  figure,  with  long  white  locks,  vanish 
through  a  crystal  wall  in  the  rock;  when  he  asked 
his  servant  whether  any  of  the  elves  were  dressed  in 

119 


THE  NINE   MOUNTAINS. 

white,  like  the  youths  and  maids  in  waiting.  The 
elf  told  him  there  were  a  few  such,  who  were  the 
oldest  and  most  learned  among  them;  that  they 
were  several  thousand  years  old,  and  never  appeared 
at  table  except  once  a  year,  on  the  birthday  of  the 
mountain  king,  nor  left  their  chambers  except  to 
teach  the  children  of  the  dwarfs  and  those  of  mortal 
birth,  for  whom  there  was  a  separate  school.  When 
Johnny  heard  this,  he  scolded  his  serving  manikin 
for  not  having  told  him  sooner  that  there  was  a 
school,  and  he  ordered  him  to  conduct  him  thither 
the  next  day,  as  he  had  a  great  wish  to  acquire  some 
learning.  So  on  the  morrow  Johnny  went  to  school, 
where  the  children  received  excellent  instruction  in 
arts  and  sciences,  besides  being  taught  poetry  and 
literature  and  different  kinds  of  handicraft.  Johnny 
soon  grew  to  like  his  book  better  than  any  idle 
amusement,  and  acquired,  besides,  the  art  of  drawing 
and  painting,  and  grew  so  clever  a  goldsmith  'that 
he  could  imitate  fruit  and  flowers  in  precious  stones,. 
to  admiration.  And  here  Johnny  found  many  play- 
mates, both  among  the  boys  and  the  girls,  and 
spent  several  years  very  contentedly,  until  his  edu- 
cation was  quite  completed. 

120 


p»tt 


$  in  gffeffc. 


Hans  had  served  his  master  for  seven  long  years, 
when  he  said  to  him,  "  Master,  my  time  is  now  up :  so 
please  to  give  me  my  wages,  as  I  wish  to  return  home 
to  my  mother."  The  master. answered,  "You  have 
served  me  like  a  trusty,  honest  fellow,  as  you  are; 
and  such  as  your  services  have  been,  so  shall  be 
your  hire." 

And  thereupon  he  gave  him  a  piece  of  gold  as 
large  as  Hans's  head.  Hans  took  a  cloth  and  rolled 
up  the  lump  of  gold  and  slung  it  over  his  shoulder, 
and  began  to  trudge  home.  As  he  went  along,  and 
kept  setting  one  foot  before  the  other,  he  happened 
to  come  up  with  a  traveller,  who  was  riding  at  a 
brisk  pace  on  a  lively  horse. 

"  Oh,  what  a  delightful  thing  it  is  to  ride!"  cried 

Hans,  aloud:  "it  is  every  bit  as  good  as  sitting  on  a 

chair:  one  doesn't  knock  one's  toes  against  a  stone, 

and  one  saves  one's  shoes,  and  yet  one  gets  on,  one 

hardly  knows  how." 

The  man  on  horseback,  having  heard  these  wise 
11  121 


HANS   IN   LUCK. 

reflections,  cried  out  to  him,  "Nay,  then,  Hans,  why 
do  you  go  on  foot?" 

"Why,  you  see,  I  am  obliged  to  carry  this  lump 
home,"  replied  Hans,  "and,  gold  though  it  be,  it 
bothers  me  sadly,  as  I  am  obliged  to  hold  my  head 
on  one  side,  and  it  weighs  so  heavily  on  my  shoulder." 

"I'll  tell  you  what,"  said  the  rider,  stopping  his 
horse :  "  we  can  make  a  bargain.  Suppose  I  were  to 
give  you  my  horse,  and  you  were  to  let  me  have 
your  lump  in  exchange?" 

"That  I  will,  and  thank  you  too,"  said  Hans; 
"but  I  remind  you  that  you  will  have  to  drag  it 
along  as  best  you  may." 

The  traveller  got  down  from  his  horse,  and  took  the 
lump  of  gold,  and  then  helped  Hans  to  mount,  and, 
having  placed  the  bridle  in  his  hand,  said  to  him, 
"  When  you  want  to  go  very  fast,  you  have  only  to 
smack  your  tongue  and  cry,  'Hop!  hop !'" 

Hans  was  in  great  delight,  as  he  sat  on  the  horse, 
and  found  he  rode  along  so  easily  and  so  pleasantly. 
After  a  while,  however,  he  fancied  he  should  like  to 
go  a  little  quicker :  so  he  began  to  smack  his  tongue 
and  to  shout,  "Hop !  hop!" 
122 


HANS   IN   LUCK. 


The  horse  set  off  at  a  brisk  trot,  and,  before  Hans 
had  time  to  collect  his  thoughts,  he  was  pitched  into 
a  ditch  that  divided  the  main  road  from  the  adjoining 
nelds.     The  horse  would  have  cleared  the  ditch  at  a 


bound,  had  he  not  been  stopped  by  a  peasant,  who 
was  driving  a  cow  along  the  same  road,  and  happened 
to  come  up  with  the  luckless  rider  just  at  this  mo- 
ment. Hans  crawled  out  of  the  ditch  as  best  he 
might,  and  got  upon  his  legs  again.     But  he  was 

123 


HANS   IN   LUCK. 


sorely  vexed,  and  observed  to  the  peasant  that  riding 
was  no  joke,  especially  when  one  had  to  do  with  a 
troublesome  beast  that  thought  nothing  of  kicking 
and  plunging,  and  breaking  a  man's  neck,  and  that 
nobody  should  ever  catch  him  again  attempting  to 
mount  such  a  dangerous  animal.  Then  he  concluded 
by  saying,  "How  far  preferable  a  creature  is  your 
cow!  One  can  walk  quietly  behind  her,  let  alone 
her  furnishing  you  with  milk,  butter,  and  cheese,  for 
certain,  every  day.  What  would  I  not  give  to  have 
such  a  cow  for  my  own!"  .    ^ 

"Well,"  said  the  peasant,  "if  thats  all,  1  should 
not  mind  changing  my  cow  for  your  horse." 

Hans  agreed  most  joyfully  to  such  a  proposal,  and 
the  peasant  leaped  into  the  saddle  and  was  presently 
out  of  sight.  . 

Hans  now  drove  the  cow  before  him  at  a  quiet  pace, 
and  kept  ruminating  upon  the  excellent  bargain  he 
had  made.  "If  I  have  only  a  bit  of  bread,— and 
that  is  not  likely  to  fail  me,— I  shall  be  able  to  add 
butter  and  cheese  to  it  as  often  as  I  wish.  If  lieel 
thirsty,  I  need  only  milk  my  cow,  and  I  shall  have 
milk  to  drink." 

124 


HANS  IN  LUCK. 


On  reaching  a  public  house,  he  stopped  to  rest  him- 
self, and  in  the  fulness  of  his  joy  he  ate  up  his  dinner 
and  supper  all  at  one  meal,  and  spent  his  two  remain- 
ing farthings  to  purchase  half  a  glass  of  beer.  He 
then  went  his  way,  and  continued  driving  his  cow 
towards  his  mother's  village. 

Towards  noon,  the  heat  grew  more  and  more  op- 
pressive, particularly  as  Hans  was  crossing  a  moor 
during  a  full  hour's  time.  At  length  his  thirst  be- 
came so  intolerable  that  his  tongue  cleaved  to  the 
roof  of  his  mouth.  "The  remedy  is  simple  enough," 
thought  Hans,  "and  now  is  the  time  to  milk  my 
cow  and  refresh  myself  with  a  good  draught  of 

LStffr  Ji?  his,cow  t0  ^he  stumP  of  a  tree>  and 

used  his  leather  cap  for  a  pail ;  but,  do  what  he  would, 

about  attempting  to  milk  the  cow  in  the  most  awk- 
ward manner  imaginable,  the  enraged  animal  gave 

sTawl^7  ♦£*  Wlth  ,h6r  ,hind  le«>  that  laidW 
sprawling  on  the  ground,  where  he  remained  half 
stunned  for  a  long  time,  and  scarcely  able  to  recollect 


«*  125 


HANS   IN   LUCK. 


Fortunately,  there  just  came  by  a  butcher  trun- 
dling a  wheelbarrow,  in  which  lay  a  young  pig. 

"  What  the  deuce  is  the  matter?"  asked  he,  as  he 
helped  the  worthy  Hans  to  rise. 


Hans  related  what  had  happened,  when  the  butcher 
handed  him  his  flask,  saying,  "  There,  man,  take  a 
draught,  and  it  will  soon  bring  you  round  again.  The 
cow  has  no  milk  to  give,  for  she  is  an  old  animal, 
only  fit  for  the  yoke,  or  to  be  killed  and  eaten." 

126 


HANS  IN   LUCK. 

"Lord,  now!  who  would  have  thought  it?"  said 
Hans,  stroking  his  hair  over  his  forehead.  "It  is,  to 
be  sure,  all  very  well  to  have  such  an  animal  as  that 
to  kill,  particularly  as  it  yields  such  a  lot  of  meat ; 
but  then  I  don't  much  relish  cow's  flesh:  it  is  not 
half  juicy  enough  for  me.  I'd  much  rather  have  a 
young  pig  like  yours.  The  flesh  is  far  more  tasty, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  sausages." 

"  I'll  tell  you  what,  Hans,"  quoth  the  butcher, 
"  I'll  let  you  have  my  pig  in  exchange  for  your  cow, 
just  out  of  kindness." 

"  Now,  that's  very  good  of  you,  upon  my  word," 
replied  Hans,  as  he  gave  him  the  cow,  while  the 
butcher  took  the  pig  out  of  the  wheelbarrow,  and 
put  the  string  that  was  tied  round  the  animal's  leg 
into  his  new  master's  hand. 

As  Hans  went  along,  he  could  not  help  marvelling 
at  his  constant  run  of  luck,  which  had  regularly 
turned  every  little  disappointment  to  the  very  best 
account.  After  a  time  he  was  overtaken  by  a  lad 
who  was  carrying  a  fine  white  goose  under  his  arm. 
They  no  sooner  bid  one  another  good-morrow,  than 
Hans  related  how  lucky  he  had  been,  and  what  ad- 

127 


HANS  IN   LUCK. 


vantageous  bargains  he  had  struck.  The  lad  told 
him,  in  turn,  that  he  was  carrying  the  goose  to  a 
christening-dinner.  "Only  just  feel  how  heavy  it 
is,"  continued  he,  taking  the  goose  up  by  the  wings ; 


"it  has  been  fattening  these  eight  weeks.  I'll  be 
bold  to  say  that  whoever  tastes  a  slice  of  it  when  it 
comes  to  be  roasted,  will  have  to  wipe  away  the  fat 
from  each  corner  of  his  mouth." 

128 


HANS   IN   LUCK. 

"Ay,"  said  Hans,  as  he  weighed  it  in  one  hand, 
"it  is  heavy  enough,  to  be  sure;  but  my  pig  is  not  to 
be  sneezed  at,  either." 

Meanwhile  the  lad  was  looking  all  around  him 
with  an  anxious  air,  and  then  shook  his  head  as  he 
observed,  "  It's  my  mind  your  pig  will  get  you  into 
trouble.  I  have  just  come  through  a  village  where 
the  mayor's  pig  was  stolen  out  of  its  sty,  and  I'm 
mightily  afraid  it's  the  very  pig  you  are  now  driving. 
It  would  be  a  bad  job  for  you  if  you  were  caught 
with  it,  and  the  least  that  could  happen  to  you  would 
be  a  lodging  in  the  black  hole." 

Poor  Hans  now  began  to  be  frightened.  "For 
goodness'  sake,"" cried  he,  "do  help  me  out  of  this 
scrape ;  and,  as  you  know  this  neighbourhood  better 
than  I  do,  pray  take  my  pig  in  exchange  for  your 
goose." 

"  I  know  I  shall  run  some  risk,"  replied  the  lad; 
"  yet  I  haven't  the  heart  to  leave  you  in  the  lurch, 
either." 

And,  so  saying,  he  took  hold  of  the  rope,  and  drove 
away  the  pig  as  fast  as  he  could  into  a  by-way,  while 
honest  Hans  pursued  his  road  with  the  goose  under 
his  arm. 

129 


HANS  IN   LUCK. 


"When  I  come  to  think  of  it,"  said  he  to  himself, 
UI  have  gained  by  the  exchange.  In  the  first  place, 
a  nice  roast  goose  is  a  delicious  morsel;  then  there 


will  be  the  fat  and  the  dripping  to  spread  upon  our 
bread  for  months  to  come ;  and,  last  of  all,  the  beau- 
tiful white  feathers  will  serve  to  fill  my  pillow,  and 


130 


HANS  IN  LUCK. 

I'll  warrant  I  shall  not  want  rocking  to  sleep.  How 
pleased  my  mother  will  be  !" 

As  he  passed  through  the  last  village  on  his  way 
home,  he  saw  a  knife-grinder  busily  turning  his 
wheel,  while  he  kept  singing, — 

"Old  knives  and  old  scissors  to  make  new  I  grind, 
And  round  turns  my  wheel  e'en  as  swift  as  the  wind." 

9  Hans  stopped  to  look  at  him,  and  at  last  he  said, 
"Your  trade  must  be  a  good  one,  since  you  sing  so 
merrily  over  your  work." 

"Yes,"  replied  the  knife-grinder,  " it  is  a  golden 
business.  Your  true  knife-grinder  is  a  man  who  finds 
money  as  often  as  he  puts  his  hand  into  his  pocket. 
But  where  did  you  buy  that  fine  goose?"  "  I  did  not 
buy  it,  but  exchanged  it  for  my  pig."  "And  where 
did  you  get  piggy  from?"  "I  swapped  my  cow  for 
it."  "And  how  did  you  come  by  your  cow?"  "Oh, 
I  gave  a  horse  for  it."  "  And  how  might  you  have 
obtained  the  horse?"  "Why,  I  got  it  in  exchange 
for  a  lump  of  gold  as  big  as  my  head."  "  And  how 
did  you  come  by  the  gold?"  "It  was  my  wages  for 
seven  years'  service."    "  Nay,  then,"  said  the  knife- 

131 


HANS  m  LUCK. 

grinder,  "  since  you  have  been  so  clever  each  time, 
you  need  only  manage  so  as  to  hear  the  money  jingle 
in  your  pocket  every  time  you  move,  and  then  you 
will  be  a  made  man."  "  But  how  shall  I  set  about 
that?"  inquired  Hans.  "You  must  turn  knife- 
grinder  like  myself;  and  nothing  is  wanting  to  set 
you  up  in  the  trade  but  a  grindstone :  the  rest  will 
come  of  itself.  I  have  one  here  that  is  a  trifle  worn, 
but  I  won't  ask  for  any  thing  more  than  your  goose 
in  exchange  for  it.  Shall  it  be  a  bargain  ?"  "  How 
can  you  doubt  it  ?"  replied  Hans :  "  I  shall  be  the 
happiest  man  on  earth.  Why,  if  I  find  money  as  often 
as  I  put  my  hand  in  my  pocket,  what  more  need  I 
care  for  ?"  And  he  handed  Mm  the  goose,  and  took 
the  grindstone.  "  Now,"  said  the  knife-grinder,  pick- 
ing up  a  tolerably  heavy  stone  that  lay  on  the  ground 
by  him,  "  here's  a  good  solid  stone  into  the  bargain, 
on  which  you  can  hammer  away,  and  straighten  all 
your  old  crooked  nails.  You  had  better  lay  it  on 
the  top  of  the  other." 

Hans  did  so,  and  went  away  quite  delighted.  "I 
was  surely  born  with  a  golden  spoon  in  my  mouth," 
cried  he,  while  his  eyes  sparkled  with  joy,  "for 

lv2 


HANS   IN   LUCK. 

every  thing  falls  out  just  as  pat  as  if  I  were  a  Sunday 
child."  In  the  mean  time,  however,  having  walked 
since  daybreak,  he  now  began  to  feel  tired  and  very 
hungry,  as  he  had  eaten  up  all  his  provisions  in  his 
joy  at  the.  bargain  he  had  made  for  the  cow.  By 
degrees  he  could  scarcely  drag  his  weary  limbs  any 
farther,  and  was  obliged  to  stop  every  minute  to  rest 
from  the  fatigue  of  carrying  the  two  heavy  stones. 
At  length  he  could  not  help  thinking  how  much 
better  it  would  be  if  he  had  not  to  carry  them  at  all. 
He  had  now  crawled  like  a  snail  up  to  a  spring, 
where  he  meant  to  rest,  and  refresh  himself  with  a 
cool  draught;  and  for  this  purpose  he  placed  the 
stones  very  carefully  on  the  brink  of  the  well.  He 
then  sat  down,  and  was  stooping  over  the  well  to 
drink,  when  he  happened  to  push  the  stones  in- 
advertently, and  plump  into  the  water  they  fell! 
Hans  no  sooner  saw  them  sink  to  the  bottom  of  the 
well,  than  he  got  up  joyfully,  and  then  knelt  down 
to  thank  Heaven  for  having  thus  mercifully  ridded 
him  of  his  heavy  burden  without  the  slightest  re- 
proach on  his  own  conscience.  For  these  stones 
were  the  only  things  that  stood  in  his  way.   "  There 

12  133 


HANS   IN   LUCK. 


is  not  a  luckier  fellow  than   I  beneath  the  sun," 
exclaimed  Hans ;  and,  with  a  light  heart  and  empty- 


hands,  he  now  bounded  along  till  he  reached  his 
mother's  home. 


134 


§ m%  tto  <$uwt-§pttM. 

In  the  reign  of  King  Arthur,  there  lived  near  the 
Land's  End,  in  the  county  of  Cornwall,  an  honest 
farmer,  whose  afcn  Jack  was  a  bold  boy,  who  de- 
lighted in  reading  stories  about  wizards,  giants,  and 
fairies,  and  listened  eagerly  whenever  anybody  re- 
lated the  brave  deeds  of  the  Knights  of  the  Bound 
Table.  Jack  was  fond  of  planning  sieges  and 
battles,  and  raising  mimic  ramparts,  while  tending 
the  cattle  in  the  fields ;  and .  as  to  wrestling,  there 
were  few  or  none  equal  to  him,  even  among  boys 
older  than  himself.  So  Jack  thought  he  was  a  match 
for  a  giant  who  dwelt  in  a  cavern  on  the  top  of  St. 
Michael's  Mount,  and  who  for  years  had  ravaged 
the  coast,  carrying  off  half  a  dozen  oxen  at  a  time 
on  his  back,  and  three  times  as  many  sheep  and 
hogs  round  his  waist.  Still,  little  as  Jack  was,  com- 
pared to  such  an  adversary,  he  resolved  to  rid  the 
country  of  such  a  nuisance,  and,  setting  off  one 
evening,  with  a  horn,  a  pickaxe,  and  a  dark  lantern, 
he  swam  to  the  mount,  at  the  foot  of  which  he  dug 
a  deep  pit  before  morning;  this  he  covered  with 
sticks  and  straw,  and  having  strewed  it  with  earth, 

135 


JACK   THE   GIANT-KILLER. 

so  as  to  look  like  solid  ground,  he  blew  a  loud  blast 
on  his  horn  which  awoke  the  giant.  "  You  saucy, 
villain,"  roared  the  monster,  "you  shall  pay  dearly 
for  disturbing  my  rest:  I  will  l^roil  you  for  my 
breakfast." 

So  saying,  out  came  the  giant  with  tremendous 
strides,  when,  lo!  he  tumbled  right  into  the  pit; 
and,  before  he  could  recover  himself,  Jack  clove  his 
skull  with  his  pickaxe.  The  justices  of  Cornwall, 
on  hearing  of  so  bold  a  deed,  sent  for  Jack,  and, 
telling  him  he  should  henceforth  be  called  Jack  the 
Giant-Killer,  presented  him  with  a  sword  and 
belt  on  which  was  engraved,  in  golden  letters, — 

"  This  is  the  valiant  Cornish  man 
That  slew  the  giant  Cormoran." 

The  fame  of  Jack's  exploit  soon  spread  through- 
out the  west  of  England,  when  another  giant,  called 
old  Blunderbore,  who  inhabited  an  enchanted  castle 
in  the  midst  of  a  wood,  vowed  he  would  avenge 
his  brother  giajit,  if  ever  he  should  get  the  audacious 
stripling  in  his  power.  Now,  four  months  after 
Cormoran's  death,  Jack  took  a  journey  into  Wales, 
and  passed  through  this  very  wood;  when,  having 
fallen  asleep  by  the  side  of  a  fountain,  the  giant 


136 


y 


JACK  THE   GrlANT-KILLER. 

found  him  on  coming  to  draw  water,  and,  seeing  who 
he  was  from  the  lines  on  his  belt,  he  laid  him  gently 
on  his  shoulder  and  carried  him  off  to  his  castle. 

On  reaching  the  castle,  he  found  the  floor  covered 
with  the  skulls  and  bones  of  human  beings,  and  the 
giant  told  him,  with  a  horrid  grin,  that  men's  hearts 
eaten  with  pepper  and  vinegar  were  his  tit-bits, 
and  that  he  hoped  to  make  a  dainty  meal  on  his 
heart.  So  saying,  he  locked  Jack  up,  and  went  to 
invite  another  giant  to  dine  with  him.  No  sooner 
was  he  gone  than  Jack  heard  dreadful  shrieks  from 
several  parts  of  the  castle,  while  a  mournful  voice 
urged  him  to  fly  before  the  giant  returned  with 
another  more  savage  than  himself.  Poor  Jack  was 
ready  to  go  mad  on  hearing  these  words;  and, 
running  to  the  window,  he  saw  the  two  giants 
coming  along  arm  in  arm.  Luckily,  there  were  two 
stout  cords  in  the  room,  and  Jack  lost  no  time  in 
making  a  noose  at  the  end  of  each,  and  as  the  two 
giants  entered  the  gates,  which  were  under  the  win- 
dow, he  threw  the  ropes  over  their  heads,  and 
fastening  the  ends  to  a  beam  in  the  ceiling,  he  pulled 
and  pulled  till  both  were  black  in  the  face,  and 
then,  sliding  down  with  the  help  of  the  cords,  he 

12*  137 


JACK   THE   GIANT-KILLER. 


drew  his  sword  and  killed  them.  Jack  next  took  a 
bunch  of  keys  from  Blunderbore's  pocket,  and,  on 
searching  the  castle,  found  three  poor  ladies  tied 
up  by  their  hair,  and  nearly  starved  to  death.     So 


Jack  kindly  gave  them  the  castle  and  all  it  con-   - 
tained,  and  proceeded  on  his  journey  to  Wales. 
By  the  time  night  had  come  on,  Jack  had  reached 

138 


JACK   THE    GIANT-KILLEE. 

a  lonely  valley,  where  he  discovered  a  large,  hand- 
some house.  Having  knocked  at  the  gate,  Jack 
was  rather  alarmed  at  being  answered  by  a  mon- 
strous giant  with  two  heads,  but  with  only  one  eye 
to  each  head.  However,  he  spoke  very  civilly, 
and  no  sooner  had  Jack  told  him  he  had  lost  his 
way,  than  he  welcomed  him  to  his  house,  and 
showed  him  into  a  room,  where  he  found  a  very 
good  bed.  Jack  undressed  himself,  but  could  not 
get  a  wink  of  sleep;  and  presently  he  heard  the 
giant  in  the  next  room,  muttering  to  himself, — 

"Though  you  lodge  with  me  this  night, 
You  shall  not  see  the  morning  light ; 
My  cluh  shall  dash  your  brains  out  quite." 

Hearing  this,  Jack  got  out  of  bed,  and  groped 
about  the  room  till  he  found  a  thick  log  of  wood, 
which  he  laid  in  the  bed,  while  he  hid  himself  in  a 
corner  of  the  room.  In  the  middle  of  the  night 
the  giant  came,  and  struck  so  many  blows  on  the 
bed  that  he  thought  he  had  broken  all  Jack's 
bones.  So  we  may  fancy  his  surprise  when  his 
guest  entered  his  room  next  morning,  to  thank  him 
for  his  lodging. 

"Dear   mel"  stammered  the  giant,  "is  it  you? 

139 


JACK   THE  GIANT-KILLER. 


and  pray  how  did  you  sleep  ?     Did  nothing  disturb 
you  in  the  middle  of  the  night  ?" 

"  Nothing  worth  mentioning,"  replied  Jack,  care- 
lessly; "  I  believe  a  rat  just  napped  me  three  or  four 
times  with  his  tail,  but  I  soon  went  to  sleep  again." 


The  giant  was  very  much  surprised,  but  he  said 
nothing,  and  went  to  fetch  two  large  bowls  of  hasty 
pudding  for  breakfast.  Jack  now  thought  it  would 
be  a  good  joke  to  make  the  giant  believe  he  could 


14a 


JACK  THE  GIANT-KILLER. 

eat  as  much  as  himself;  so  lie  slipped  the  pudding 
into  a  leathern  bag  inside  his  coat,  while  he  made 
believe  to  put  it  into  his  mouth.  When  breakfast 
was  over,  he  said,  "Now  I  will  show  you  a  trick." 
So  saying,  he  took  a  knife  and  ripped  up  the  bag, 
when  all  the  hasty  pudding  fell  out  upon  the  floor. 
"Ods  splutter  hur  nails!"  cried  the  Welsh  giant, 
"hur  can  do  that  hurself."  So  he  plunged  the 
knife  into  his  stomach,  and  dropped  dead. 

Jack  continued  his  journey,  and  a  few  days 
after  fell  in  with  King  Arthur's  only  son,  who  had 
travelled  to  Wales  to  deliver  a  beautiful  lady  from 
the  power  of  a  wicked  magician.  When  Jack  found 
that  the  prince  had  no  attendants  with  him,  he 
offered  his  services,  which  were  thankfully  accepted. 
The  prince  was  so  kind-hearted  that  he  gave  away 
his  money  to  everyone  he  met;  and,  having  parted 
with  his  last  penny,  he  asked  Jack  what  they  should 
do  to  get  food  and  lodging  for  that  night.  Jack 
begged  him  to  leave  that  to  him,  for  that  two  miles 
farther  on  there  lived  a  giant  with  three  heads,  who 
could  fight  five  hundred  men.  The  prince  feeling 
uneasy  at  the  idea  of  claiming  the  hospitality  of 
such  a  monster,  Jack  told  him  to  stay  behind,  and 

141 


JACK   THE   GIANT-KILLER. 

he  would  manage  him.  Accordingly,  on  Jack  rode, 
and  knocked  at  the  castle-gate.  "Who  is  there?" 
thundered  out  the  giant.  "  Only  your  poor  cousin 
Jack/'  said  our  hero.  "Well,  what  news,  cousin 
Jack?"  asked  the  giant.  "Bad  news,  dear  uncle," 
quoth  Jack.  "Pooh!"  answered  the  giant:  "what 
can  be  bad  news  for  me,  who  have  three  heads,  and 
can  fight  five  hundred  men?"  "Alas!"  said  Jack, 
"the  king's  son  is  coming  with  two  thousand  men, 
to  kill  you  and  destroy  your  castle."  "This  is  bad 
news  indeed,  cousin  Jack,"  cried  the  giant;  "but  I 
will  hide  myself  in  the  cellar,  and  you  shall  lock 
me  in,  and  keep  the  key  till  the  king's  son  is  gone." 

In  the  morning,  when  the  prince  had  gone,  Jack 
let  out  the  giant,  who,  as  a  reward  for  saving  his* 
castle,  gave  our  hero  a  coat  which  made  its  wearer 
invisible,  a  cap  which  imparted  knowledge,  a  sword 
which  could  cut  through  every  thing,  and  shoes 
which  lent  a  marvellous  swiftness  to  the  feet. 

Jack  thanked  the  giant  many  times,  and  then 
joined  the  prince.  They  soon  reached  the  castle 
where  the  beautiful  lady  was  kept  in  thraldom  by 
the  wicked  magician,  and  here  Jack  learned,  by 
putting  on  his  cap  of  knowledge,  that  the  wizard 

U2 


JACK  THE  GIANT-KILLER. 
I 

went  every  night  into  the  forest  to  conjure  up 
spirits :  so  he  dressed  himself  in  the  coat  of  dark- 
ness, and,  drawing  on  his  shoes  of  swiftness,  ran 
after  liii  and  cut  off  his  head,  which  ended  the 
enchanlment  and  set  the  lady  free.  The  prince 
married  her  the  next  day,  and  the  royal  pair  pro- 
ceeded with  their  deliverer  to  the  court  of  King 
Arthur,  who  was  so  pleased  with  his  prowess  that 
he  made  him  a  knight  of  the  Bound  Table. 

Jack  begged  the  king  to  equip  him,  that  he  might 
return  to  Wales  and  rid  his.  majesty's  subjects  of 
all  the  remaining  giants.  To  this  King  Arthur 
consented,  and  accordingly  Jack  took  his  leave  of 
the  court,  and  after  travelling  for  three  days  reached 
a  forest,  which  he  had  no  sooner  entered  than  he 
heard  most  dreadful  shrieks,  and  on  peeping  through 
the  trees  he  perceived  a  monstrous  giant  dragging 
along  by  their  hair  a  handsome  knight  and  his 
beautiful  lady.  Jack  immediately  alighted  from  his 
horse,  and  put  on  his  invisible  coat,  under  which  he 
carried  his  sword  of  sharpness,  and  approaching 
the  giant,  who  was  so  tall  that  he  could  not  reach 
his  body,  he  wounded  him  so  severely  on  his  knee 
that  the  huge  monster  fell  to  the  ground,  when  Jack 

143 


JACK   THE  GIANT-KILLER. 


at  once  cut  off  his  head.  The  knight  and  his  lady 
now  approached,  and,  thanking  him  most  heartily, 
entreated  him  to  come  and   rest  himself  at  their 


house.     "No,"  said  Jack,  rT  cannot  rest  till  I  find 
out  the  den  the  monster  inhabited." 

On  hearing  this,  the  knight  grew  very  sorrowful, 
and  told  him  that  it  was  too  much  to  risk  his  life  a 
aecond  time,  for  that  the  giant  lived  in  a  den  under 


JACK   THE   GIANT-KILLER. 

a  neighbouring  mountain,  with  a  brother  yet  fiercer 
and  more  cruel  than  himself.  But  our  valiant  giant- 
killer  was  not  to  be  put  off  his  purpose  so  easily,  so 
straightway  he  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  off. 

After  riding  a  mile  and  a  half,  he  came  in  sight 
of  the  mouth  of  the  cavern,  and  saw  the  giant 
seated  on  a  block  of  timber  with  a  club  by  his  side. 
Jack  got  down  from  his  horse,  and,  putting  on  his 
coat  of  darkness,  said,  "  So,  here  is  the  other  mon- 
ster: I'll  soon  pluck  him  by  the  beard."  He  then 
struck  a  blow  at  his  head,  but  missed  his  aim,  and 
the  giant,  feeling  wounded,  yet  seeing  no  one  near, 
began  to  lay.  about  him  with  his  club.  Jack,  how- 
ever, slipped  nimbly  behind  him  and  quickly  cut  off 
his  head,  and  sent  it,  together  with  that  of  his 
brother,  to  King  Arthur. 

Next  day  Jack  set  out  for  the  knight's  house, 
where  he  was  welcomed  with  great  joy  and  feasting. 
When  the  company  were  assembled,  the  knight  re- 
lated to  them  the  Giant-Killer's  exploits,  and  then 
presented  Jack  with  a  handsome  ring,  on  which  was 
engraved  the  picture  of  the  giant  dragging  along 
,the  hapless  couple. 

In  the  midst  of  the  festivities  a  messenger  rushed 

13  145 


JACK  THE  GIANT-KILLER. 


in  with  the  news  that  Thundel,  a  giant  with  two 
heads,  was  coming  to  avenge  the  death  of  his  kins- 
men. Jack  immediately  set  some  men  to  cut  the 
drawbridge,  that  lay  across  the  moat,  almost  to  the 


middle,  and,  having  put  on  his  coat  of  darkness,  he 
sallied  forth  to  meet  the  giant. 

Though  the  giant  could  not  see  him,  he  sniffed 
his  presence,  and  cried  out, — 


Nfi 


JACK   THE  GIANT-KILLER. 

"Fee!  foh!  fum! 
I  smell  the  blood  of  an  Englishman : 
Be  he  alive,  or  be  he  dead, 
I'll  grind  his  bones  to  make  me  bread." 

"You  must  catch  me  first,"  said  Jack,  and,  fling- 
ing off  his  coat  and  putting  on  his  shoes,  he  began 
to  run,  the  giant  following  him  like  a  walking 
castle.  Jack  led  him  round  and  round  the  moat, 
that  the  company  might  see  him,  and  then  ran  over 
the  drawbridge ;  but  when  the  giant,  still  pursuing 
him,  came  to  the  middle  where  the  bridge  had  been 
cut,  his  weight  snapped  it  at  once,  and  he  fell  into 
the  water.  Jack  then  called  for  a  rope,  and,  throw- 
ing a  noose  over  his  double  neck,  he  drew  him  to 
the  edge  of  the  moat,  and  cut  off  his  heads,  which 
he  likewise  despatched  to  King  Arthur. 

Jack  then  set  out  in  search  of  new  adventures, 
and  at  last  reached  the  foot  of  a  high  mountain. 
Here  he  lodged  for  the  night  at  the  house  of  an 
old  hermit,  who,  recognizing  him  as  the  famous 
Giant-Killer,  told  him  that  at  the  top  of  the  moun- 
tain there  was  an  enchanted  castle,  kept  by  a  giant, 
who  by  the  help  of  a  wicked  magician  detained  a 
number  of  knights  and  ladies  whom  he  had  changed 

147 


JACK   THE   GIANT-KILLER. 

into  beasts ;  and,  among  the  rest,  a  duke's  daughter, 
whom  they  had  seized  in  her  father's  garden,  and 
brought  through  the  air  in  a  chariot  drawn  by  two 
fiery  dragons,  and  then  turned  into  a  deer.  "  Many 
knights  have  tried  to  destroy  the  enchantment," 
added  the  hermit,  "but  none  have  succeeded,  on 
account  of  two  fiery  griffins ;  but  you,  my  son,  have 
an  invisible  coat,  and  can  therefore  pass  them." 

Jack  promised  he  would  do  all  that  lay  in  his 
power  to  break  the  enchantment,  and,  rising  early 
next  morning,  he  put  on  his  invisible  coat,  and, 
climbing  to  the  top  of  the  mountain,  passed  between 
the  fiery  griffins,  when  he  found  a  golden  trumpet 
on  the  castle-gate,  under  which  was  written, — 

"Whoever  can  this  trumpet  blow 
Shall  cause  the  giant's  overthrow." 

Jack,  then  seized  the  trumpet  and  blew  a  shrill 
blast,  which  made  the  gates  fiy  open  and  the  very 
castle  tremble,  while  the  giant  and  conjurer,  know- 
ing their  wicked  course  was  at  an  end,  stood  biting 
their  thumbs  and  shaking  with  fear.  Jack  killed 
the  giant  with  his  sword  of  sharpness,  the  magician 
was  carried  off  by  a  whirlwind,  and  all  the  knights 
and  ladies  returned  to  their  proper  shapes,  and  the 


JACK   THE   GIANT-KILLER. 


castle  vanished  like  smoke.  The  whole  $>arty  then 
set  out  for  the  court,  and  when  !King  Arthur  heard 
the  account  of  Jack's  noble  deeds,  he  begged  the 
duke  to  give  him  his  daughter  in  marriage,  and 
then  presented  him  with  a  fine  estate,  on  which  the 
young  couple  lived  for  the  rest  of  their  days  in 
peace  and  happiness. 


149 


®to  §owt  ftftat  $M  §utti 


This  is  the  malt, 
That  lay  in  the  house  that  Jack  built. 


150 


THE  HOUSE  THAT  JACK  BUILT. 


This  is  the  rat, 
That  ate  the  malt, 
That  lay  in  the  house  that  Jack  built. 


151 


THE  HOUSE  THAT  JACK  BUILT. 


This  is  the  cat, 
That  kill'd  the  rat, 
That  ate  the  malt, 
That  lay  in  the  house  that  Jack  built. 

152 


THE  HOUSE  THAT  JACK  BUILT. 


This  is  the  dog, 
That  worried  the  cat, 
That  kill'd  the  rat, 
That  ate  the  malt, 
That  lay  in  the  house  that  Jack  built. 


153 


THE   HOUSE  THAT  JACK   BUILT. 


This  is  the  cow  with  the  crumpled  horn, 

That  toss'd  the  dog, 

That  worried  the  cat, 

That  kill'd  the  rat, 

That  ate  the  malt, 
That  lay  in  the  house  that  Jack  built. 

154 


THE   HOUSE  THAT  JACK   BUILT. 


This  is  the  maiden  all  forlorn, 

That  milk'd  the  cow  with  the  crumpled  horn, 

That  toss'd  the  dog, 

That  worried  the  cat, 

That  kill'd  the  rat, 

That  ate  the  malt, 
That  lay  in  the  house  that  Jack  built. 

155 


THE  HOUSK  THAT  JACK  BUIET. 


This  is  the  man  all  tatter'd  and  torn, 

That  kiss'd  the  maiden  all  forlorn, 

That  milk'd  the  cow  with  the  crumpled  horn, 

That  toss'd  the  dog, 

That  worried  the  cat, 

That  killed  the  rat, 

That  ate  the  malt, 
That  lay  in  the  house  that  Jack  built. 

156 


THE   HOUSE   THAT  JACK   BUILT. 


This  is  the  priest  all  shaven  and  shorn, 
That  married  the  man  all  tatter'd  and  torn, 
That  kiss'd  the  maiden  all  forlorn, 
That  milk'd  the  cow  with  the  crumpled  horn, 

That  toss'd  the  dog, 

That  worried  the  cat, 

That  kill'd  the  rat, 

That  ate  the  malt, 
That  lay  in  the  house  that  Jack  built. 


14 


157 


THE  HOUSE  THAT  JACK  BUILT. 


158 


THE  HOUSE  THAT  JACK   BUILT. 


This  is  the  cock  that  crow'd  in  the  morn, 
That  waked  the  priest  all  shaven  and  shorn, 
That  married  the  man  all  tatter'd  and  torn, 
That  kiss'd  the  maiden  all  forlorn, 
That  milk'd  the  cow  with  the  crumpled  horn, 

That  toss'd  the  dog, 

That  worried  the  cat, 

That  kill'd  the  rat, 

That  ate  the  malt, 
That  lay  in  the  house  that  Jack  built. 


159 


THE  HOUSE  THAT  JACK  BUILT. 


THE  HOUSE  THAT  JACK   BUILT, 

This  is  the  farmer  who  sow'd  the  corn, ' 
That  kept  the  cock  that  crow'd  in  the  morn, 
That  waked  the  priest  all  shaven  and  shorn, 
That  married  the  man  all  tatter'd  and  torn, 
That  kiss'd  the  maiden  all  forlorn, 
That  milk'd  the  cow  with  the  crumpled  horn, 

That  toss'd  the  dog, 

That  worried  the  cat, 

That  kill'd  the  rat, 

That  eat  the  malt, 
That  lay  in  the  house  that  Jack  built. 

14*  161 


THE   HOUSE   THAT  JACK   BUILT. 


162 


THE  HOUSE  THAT  JACK  BUILT. 

This  is  the  horse,  and  the  hound,  and  the  horn, 
That  belong'd  to  the  farmer  who  sow'd  the  corn, 
That  kept  the  cock  that  crow'd  in  the  morn, 
That  awaked  the  priest  all  shaven  and  shorn, 
That  married  the  man  all  tatter'd  and  torn, 
That  kiss'd  the  maiden  all  forlorn, 
That  milk'd  the  cow  with  the  crumpled  horn, 

That  toss'd  the  dog, 

That  worried  the  cat, 

That  kill'd  the  rat, 

That  ate  the  malt, 
That  lay  in  the  house  that  Jack  built. 


163 


ptfc  §0-f  up. 


Little  Bo-peep  has  lost  her  sheep, 
And  cannot  tell  where  to  find  'em : 

Leave  them  alone,  and  they'll  come  home, 
And  bring  their  tails  behind  'em. 

164 


LITTLE   BO-PEEP. 


Little  Bo-peep  fell  fast  asleep, 

And  dreamt  she  heard  them  bleating 

When  she  awoke,  she  found  it  a  joke, 
For  still  they  all  were  fleeting. 


Then  up  she  took  her  little  crook, 

Determined  for  to  find  them : 
She  found  them  indeed,  but  it  made  her  heart  bleed, 

For  they'd  left  their  tails  behind  them. 


It  happen'd  one  day,  as  Bo-peep  did  stray 

Into  a  meadow  hard  by, 
There  she  espied  their  tails  side  by  side, 

All  hung  on  a  tree  to  dry. 

165 


LITTLE   BO-PEEP. 

She  heaved  a  sigh,  and  wiped  her  eye, 

And  over  the  hillocks  she  raced ; 
And  tried  what  she  could,  as  a  shepherdess  should, 

That  each  tail  should  be  properly  placed. 


166 


THE   OLD  WOMAN   AND   HER   EGGS. 


©to  #M  Wmm  mft  Uex  $ggss. 


There  was  an  old  woman,  as  I've  heard  tell, 
She  went  to  the  market  her  eggs  for  to  sell : 
She  went  to  the  market,  all  on  a  market-day, 
And  she  fell  asleep  on  the  king's  highway. 

v  167 


THE   OLD   WOMAN  AND   HER  EGOS. 

There  came  a  little  peddler, — his  name  it  was  Stout ; 
He  cut  off  her  petticoats  all  round  about : 
He  cut  off  her  petticoats  up  to  her  knees, 
Until  her  poor  knees  began  for  to  freeze. 


When  the  little  woman  began  to  awake, 
She  began  to  shiver  and  she  began  to  shake : 
Her  knees  began  to  freeze  and  she  began  to  cry, 
11  Oh,  lawk !  oh,  mercy  on  me !  this  surely  can't  be  I. 


"If  it  be  not  I,  as  I  suppose  it  be, 

I  have  a  little  dog  at  home,  and  he  knows  me : 

If  it  be  I,  he  will  wag  his  little  tail ; 

JBut  if  it  be  not  I  he'll  bark  and  he'll  rail." 

163 


THE  OLD  WOMAN  AND   HEB  EGGS. 

Up  jump'd  the  little  woman,  all  in  the  dark ; 
Up  jump'd  the  little  dog,  and  he  began  to  bark : 
The  dog  began  to  bark,  and  she  began  to  cry, 
"  Oh,  lawk !  oh,  mercy  on  me !  I  see  it  is  not  I.1 


ry^ 


15 


169 


OLD   MOTHEK   GOOSE. 


m&  p**  mm, 


w 


Old  Mother  Goose,  when 
She  wanted  to  wander, 

Would  ride  through  the  air 
On  a  very  fine  gander. 


OLD   MOTHER  GOOSE, 

Mother  Goose  had  a  house : 
'Twas  built  in  the  wood, 

Where  an  owl  at  the  door 
For  a  sentinel  stood. 


This  is  her  son  Jack, — 
A  plain-looking  lad : 

He  is  not  very  good, 
Nor  yet  very  bad. 


She  sent  him  to  market : 
A  live  goose  he  bought : 

"  Here,  mother,"  says  he, 
"  It  will  not  go  for  naught.' 


m 


OLD   MOTHER  GOOSE. 

Jack's  goose  and  her  gander 

Grew  very  fond : 
They'd  both  eat  together, 

Or  swim  in  one  pond. 


Jack  found  one  morning, 
As  I  have  been  told, 

His  goose  had  laid  him 
An  egg  of  pure  gold. 


Jack  rode  to  his  mother, 
The  news  for  to  tell : 

She  call'd  him  a  good  boy, 
And  said  it  was  well. 


172 


OLD   MOTHER  GOOSE. 

Jack  sold  his  gold  egg] 
To  a  rogue  of  a  Jew, 

Who  cheated  him  out  of 
The  half  of  his  due. 


Then  Jack  went  a-courting 

A  lady  so  gay, 
As  fair  as  the  lily, 

And  sweet  a3  the  May. 


The  Jew  and  the  Squire 
Came  close  at  his  back, 

And  began  to  belabour 
The  sides  of  poor  Jack. 

15*  *    &» 


m 


OLD   MOTHER  GOOSE. 

They  threw  the  gold  egg 
In  the  midst  of  the  sea ; 

But  Jack  he  jump'd  in, 
And  got  it  back  presently. 


The  Jew  got  the  goose, 

Which  he  vow'd  he  would  kill, 
Besolving  at  once 

His  pockets  to  fill. 


Jack's  mother  came  in, 

And  caught  the  goose  soon, 

And,  mounting  its  back, 
Flew  up  to  the  mooo# 


Dance,  little  baby,  dance  up  high : 
Never  mind,  baby,  mother  is  nigh : 
Crow  and  caper,  caper  and  crow: 
There,  little  baby,  there  you  go, 
Up  to  the  ceiling,  down  to  the  ground, 
Backward  and  forward,  round  and  round. 


175 


§* 


